The Shoe Thief
by tanb
Summary: As the bride's sister, Katniss Singhania has one job: to steal her new firangi brother-in-law's shoes on the day of the wedding and hold them ransom for Rs. 5000. She does not count on being thwarted by the groom's brother: a smiling blond, blue-eyed videsi who seems hell-bent on thawing Katniss' frozen desi heart. Bollywood!Everlark. AU. Cover image by underAvioletmoon
1. Chapter 1

**Based on every possible Bollywood trope there is, from **_**Hum Aapke hai Kaun **_**to **_**DDLJ **_**to **_**Queen, **_**I present Everlark – **_**desi**_**fied.**

**Trigger warning:****Bollywood references. Lots of 'em.**

**CHAPTER 1**

**The Shoes**

They were finely made, as far as shoes went. Splendid cream-coloured silk mojris with pointed toes and gold embroidered paisley designs to match the groom's sherwani suit. The brand name, _Cartwrights_, was hand-stitched onto the soft inner sole, along with the tagline in Hindi: _Joote ki shaan, hamari pehchaan_. Shoes for royalty or, as our cynical heroine, Katniss Singhania liked to think, ostentatious Indian weddings.

When Papa was still alive, weddings had been fun – events that Katniss and her little sister Primada had enjoyed dressing up for. Prim, only five then, would always pester Papa with the hopes of being allowed to indulge in more than one slice of pistachio cassata ice cream. Katniss, on the other hand, had loved weddings for a different reason. Weddings were where her Papa would sing and earn some money, where he would take nine-year-old Katniss to sing with him. The final song, from the movie _Waqt_, would always be dedicated to Ma – the Urdu words of Manna De's timeless classic a testament to Ma's gold-haired, blue-eyed Afghani heritage.

Silence would fall over the hall when Papa began crooning the first aalaap of the song, his voice flowing out like water – liquid silk – rippling over the crowd, even the cawing matchmaking aunties who stopped for a few minutes to just listen. While every eye in the hall would be fixed on the tall, grey-eyed man onstage, Papa's eyes were for Ma and Ma alone; her mother's face glowing with a blush that could have rivalled the one on the bride herself.

In hindsight, Katniss realized that it should not have been a surprise that Ma had sunk into a deep depression the year Papa was killed by a lorry, the year Katniss turned twelve and Prim, six. It had been the year Katniss had been introduced to the realities of her new, Papa-less life: insurance, rent, groceries, credit-collectors.

And hunger.

Hollow-bellied hunger that might have killed Katniss and Primada within that year, had it not been for her father's adoptive brother from a stint in the Indian army – Haydar Ali, who come to pay his respects to his old friend's grieving widow. It had not taken long for Haydar to assess the situation – a single look at Lajjo Singhania's vacant blue eyes and the skinny faces of the girls, told the Haydar they were in deep trouble.

"Come on, sweetheart," he told little Katniss. "You're going to have to help me pack a bag for your mother and sister."

Even today Katniss does not know what instinct urged her to trust this gruff Muslim man with the slightly-sour breath and little flask in his coat pocket – perhaps it was only sheer desperation at that point. Haydar had made a trip to the Irani cafe downstairs and brought back bread and eggs. Steaming white bread with a hard golden crust and soft white flesh. Sloppily fried eggs that Haydar had cooked himself (cursing as the oil splattered over his hands) for Katniss, Primada and Lajjo.

It was the first day after her father's death that Katniss had allowed herself to cry. That loud, sobbing cry she'd hidden somewhere deep inside of herself the day the doctor came out of the operating theatre and said _I'm sorry._

It had taken some time for Haydar to settle the legal matters and move Lajjo, Katniss and Prim to his bungalow in Bandra, but he had managed to do it within six months. For a brief while, Katniss and Haydar remained wary of each other. Katniss knew that Papa wasn't very rich; Ma had run away from her family to be with him. She wondered now what Haydar's intentions were by taking them in – if the bitter, alcoholic bachelor intended to marry her mother who, despite her depression, was still a beautiful woman.

But nothing of the sort happened. Haydar, who insisted on calling Lajjo his Bhabhi, a diminutive for sister-in-law, treated Katniss and Primada with the sort of gruff kindness that he'd been exposed to over the years in the army. Prim, who gravitated towards love and kindness like a flower to the sun, chattered non-stop with Haydar, coaxing rare smiles out of the grouchy man, growing delighted when he allowed her to keep a mangy old cat that had been caught hiding behind the mango tree in the bungalow's garden.

Katniss, on the other hand, had taken a lot more convincing. Haydar had approached his friend's oldest daughter with care, seeing himself in the dusky, grey-eyed girl with her long black braid – a child who saw too much for her age, a child forced to grow up too quickly.

It took years before Katniss grew to trust him – a trust that was cemented by Haydar's own marriage, several years later, to a woman named Aafreen, or Effie as everyone called her.

After Papa's death, Katniss had for the most part grown indifferent to weddings, dressing up when Effie bua required, even smiling at the right moments at the bride and groom. It was only five years ago that she began actively hating them.

"It's ridiculous!" she kept telling her adoptive aunt. "All this _dhamaal_ and expense. He's not even Indian, Effie bua!"

"Ya Allah, Katniss, this man came all the way from Canada. He learnt to speak Hindi! We cannot possibly let them go without a proper wedding!" The bright – no, neon pink shade – of Effie bua's silk sari hurt Katniss's eyes. "Now get up and get to work! Tomorrow's going to be a big, big, big day!"

It wasn't really a surprise that Prim had found love with a man in Toronto – her professor, no less! – a man eight years older than Prim, twenty-nine years old to Prim's twenty-one. The age gap had worried Katniss, along with the fact that the man wasn't Indian. Prim, for all the foreign looks she'd inherited from their mother, had been raised in a relatively sheltered environment. Haydar, despite his alcoholism, had run his house in typical military fashion, keeping both girls under strict tabs. No boyfriends, no night clubs, no short clothes or anything of the sort that would endanger the two girls he'd vowed to protect in the memory of his friend. "None of that videsi nonsense," Haydar told the girls more than once.

This wasn't too hard for Katniss. After Ma's mental decline, Katniss had actively taken on the role of the primary female caretaker in her little sister's life. Even after Effie came into the picture, Katniss was the one Prim went to when she got into trouble, Katniss who Prim was afraid of upsetting more than either Haydar or Effie.

"Lucas is wonderful, Katniss!" Prim insisted over the course of several Skype meetings. "I swear he is!"

After what had happened five years ago with Galjeet, Katniss had been left with little reason to trust men. To be betrayed so horribly by someone who had been her best friend…Katniss had never wanted Prim to suffer in the same fashion.

"I will be fine. I promise. If anything, it will be my mistake to make. Lucas…I swear, Katniss, he is so decent. More decent than any of these so-called good Indian boys that I've come across here. He has a PhD in Hinduism, you know. His family owns a bakery here in Toronto; his younger brother runs it now with their father."

Lucas's mother was not in the picture anymore, Prim explained. "It's only him, his father and brother now. It's just…it's so similar to our situation Kat. We just…we connected. Please don't be upset. Please talk to him. He wants to marry me. He's serious about us."

In the end, Katniss had talked to Lucas. She hadn't registered much except for the fact that he was tall and blond with serious blue eyes behind his glasses. He asked Katniss for Prim's hand in marriage – first in English and then in Hindi. _Main Prim ko chahta hoon. Main usse shaadi karna chahta hoon._ I love Prim. I want to marry her.

They had carried on a conversation in Hindi, his accent making Katniss bite back a smile, in spite of herself.

"Okay," she'd finally said in English. "I will say yes on two conditions. One: you have to get married here in Mumbai. Two: you will never hurt my sister. If you do, I will not hesitate to shoot you with my uncle Haydar's gun."

Lucas Mellark had laughed briefly before realizing that Katniss was dead serious. He swallowed a little roughly before agreeing wholeheartedly to her "conditions."

Katniss had been busy at work over the past week at the call centre, and had come home late, missing the meeting with Lucas and his family when they'd arrived at Haydar Uncle's house yesterday afternoon.

Now, on the first actual day of her week off, instead of mingling with the other guests the way Effie bua expected her to, Katniss was here, stuck outside the room that held the wedding mandap, eyeing the groom's brand new wedding shoes, roped into this ridiculous tradition by Ruhana and Farheen where she (as the bride's sister) had to steal her brother-in-law's shoes and hold them ransom until he shelled out what Prim's giggling friends deemed an appropriate amount of money.

It was a frivolous tradition – stealing shoes – one that was now forcing Katniss to miss the beginning of her sister's wedding ceremony. Effie bua was going to blow a gasket over her atrocious manners.

She looked around once more – no one in sight – and gathered the heavy skirt of her orange and gold sharara in one hand, to avoid the silky fabric from making the swishing sound it was bound to when she moved. But years of learning to hunt with Haydar on trips to Rajasthan, had made Katniss good at being quiet. Her feet, small and slight, barely made a sound despite the silvery payals on her ankles.

Gliding over the cool tiles, Katniss paused before the chair and picked up the shoes quickly, carefully tucking the thin fabric of her pale orange dupatta over them – camouflage, in case she came across someone from the groom's party.

Inside the room, the priest's sonorous voice crescendoed in prayer, masking the sound of footsteps that Katniss, on a normal evening, would have heard from a mile away.

Katniss just began to turn when a pair of strong hands caught hold of her arms. "Stealing is a crime," a soft male voice said in an undoubtedly Western accent. "Didn't they tell you that?"

The man – oh it was most certainly a man who had caught her – _oh shit, oh shit_ – slowly loosened his grip, but did not release her completely.

Tightly holding the shoes to her chest, Katniss contemplated ducking out of his grip, when all of a sudden it tightened again. It was almost as if he could sense the flutter of Katniss's pulse at her wrists, the tense posture that suggested flight the moment he let go. "I wouldn't run, if I were you," the voice said with a quiet chuckle.

_Oh try me, firangi_, Katniss thought irritably.

He laughed again. Shit, did she say that out loud? Slowly, carefully her captor turned her around, until they were face to face and Katniss was looking up into a pair of startlingly blue eyes.

**Character List:**

**Katniss = Katniss (not an Indian name, I know. Will be clarified why in a later chapter.)**

**Primada = Prim**

**Galjeet = Gale**

**Haydar Ali = Haymitch**

**Aafreen = Effie**

**Lajjo = Mrs. Everdeen**

**Dear Readers,**

**While this is definitely not my first foray into writing or even fan fiction, its the first time I am attempting a multi-chapter story. As an ardent fan of both The Hunger Games (Everlark) and Bollywood, I've decided to combine the two worlds I like best.**

**(Very rough) English translations of the Hindi phrases in this chapter:**

_**Joote ki shaan, Hamari Pehchaan**_**: We are recognized by the glamour of our shoes.**

**_Dhamaal:_****A form of ruckus or uproar (usually joyful and associated with weddings or parties)**

_**Firangi**_**: Foreigner**

**A kind reviewer on AO3 pointed out that I'd forgotten to clarify the terms DESI and VIDESI in the story's original summary. So for anyone else who wanted to know:**

Des / Desh means "country." Therefore Desi simply means "from my country" Conversely "videsi" means "not from my country."

These days, however, the word Desi is used to correlate to anything that originates from the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, Desi could also mean Indian and videsi, foreign/foreigner.

**The song Katniss's father sings for her mother:****"Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen" from the movie **_**Waqt**_**. A beautiful piece that I highly recommend listening to.**

**Warning:****There will be a lot of singing and dancing in this story. After all, what is Bollywood (and an Indian wedding) without **_**dhamaal**_**?**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**The Bride's Blue-Eyed Devar**

An ocean? Or perhaps a mountain sky in Dehradun. There was no accurate way to describe the shade of blue that Katniss was looking at right now, encased in the laughing eyes of the man standing before her – about a foot taller than Katniss, with thick, wavy, ashy blond hair falling over his forehead, and long creases in each cheek. The deep-blue sherwani suit and white dupatta fit him well, placing emphasis on his broad shoulders and muscular arms.

_Good looking_ was too tame a phrase to describe this man, Katniss realized. Certainly not with the effect he seemed to be having on her heartbeat. She scowled. Katniss had learnt (the hard way) to not trust good looking men.

"Someone told me that this tradition was still followed," he said, nodding at the shoes Katniss held cradled to her chest. "I thought it would be one of Prim's friends. Didn't expect it to be you, Katniss."

Katniss frowned. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

To her surprise, the man's fair skin flushed pink and he seemed somewhat embarrassed for blurting out her name, even though he didn't release his grip on her. His fingers slid down her arms, delicately pausing at her elbows. She tried to unsuccessfully curb the shiver the move sent down her spine.

"I'm sorry. Prim told me about you. My name's Peeta. I'm Lucas's brother which, I guess, will make me Prim's brother by extension."

"And mine," Katniss said automatically.

"Oh no." Peeta grinned in a way that made the pulse at her throat quicken. "I absolutely refuse to be your brother. Especially after seeing you dance in that video."

Katniss jerked away from him.

"Video? What video?"

"Well you know how we were supposed to be here a week ago, right?" He held up his phone and slid a finger across the screen. A laughing face appeared onscreen – _Katniss's_ _laughing__ face_ – in the beginnings of a cell phone video. "So Prim…"

Katniss's mouth fell open. "She didn't!"

"Oh, she most certainly did." He teased. "You have nothing to complain about though. You looked gor—um…really good. Dancing, that is. You clearly don't have two left feet the way I do." His lips pursed together for a split second, as if regretting his slip of tongue – _was he really about to call her gorgeous? –_ and then gave her a bashful smile that was surprisingly at odds with his seemingly confident personality.

Katniss stared at her face on screen, thrown back in a laugh, behind the translucent play button, remembering how the video had come into existence.

As Peeta had said, the groom's side (a group that included Lucas, his family and a group of college friends) were supposed to have reached Mumbai a week ago. A terrible snow storm had cancelled all outgoing flights from Pearson airport.

Lucas's flight from Toronto had been delayed for several days, much to Prim's consternation – they'd been worried about him not making it to the wedding on time.

"Don't worry about it, _jaan_," Lucas had told Prim from the Jet Airways transit lounge in Brussels. "We're stuck here for another four hours, but we'll definitely make it in time for the wedding day."

In any case, the henna ceremony, which acted as a bridal shower for Prim, really didn't require Lucas's presence and had taken place yesterday morning. Guests – women only – came decked out in bright silk saris, salwar kurtas, and heavily embroidered shararas. Most of the girls had been disappointed to hear that the groom's party had been delayed.

"What's the point of a mehendi party if there aren't any boys to gate crash it?" Pinky "Glimmer" Khanna had wailed. It was a point many of the other girls agreed with as well. After all, half the fun of bridal parties was in the gate-crashing done by the men on the groom's side, usually his single brothers or cousins, allowing other single girls to flirt and dance openly – or at least as openly as they could in a chaperone-heavy setting.

Katniss, for her part, had been somewhat relieved by the absence of the men. Perhaps it was this, coupled with Prim's puppy-eyed pleas, that allowed her to kick loose for a bit and join in the singing and dancing.

"Please Kat-jaan," Prim had wheedled. "If you won't sing, will you at least dance? For me?"

And so, for her sister, Katniss had danced. She'd swayed her hips and shaken them, loosened her long braid and whipped her long black hair round and round. The ceremony had ended that afternoon on an obvious note, with that new song from _Dostana _that had every Indian girl channeling her inner Priyanka Chopra on the dance floor:

_Hai ek lakh lakh pardesi girls _

_There ain't nobody like my desi girl_

_Who's the hottest girl in the world?_

_A desi girl! A desi girl!_

_Thumka lagaike she'll rock your world_

_A desi girl! A desi girl!_

The song had moved through Katniss in an unusual way that afternoon. She was not given to strong demonstrations of affection even though her love, once given, ran true and deep. But that afternoon, for a few short minutes, Katniss had forgotten everything – her horrible boss at the call centre, the bitchy girls at the wedding, the nosy matchmaking aunties, and her own hatred of weddings – and simply lost herself in the music. She was happy - so happy that her sister had found someone to put roses in her cheeks and a sparkle in her sky-blue eyes. Katniss had not even minded Prim filming her on her cell phone; a lot of people were filming Katniss that afternoon, for some reason, even though Katniss did not understand why.

"You are radiant, my girl," reedy old Sae-ma had tried to explain. "With that red salwar suit and that flying black hair, _uff_! You look like a girl on fire."

Katniss had known that Prim was sending the video to Lucas ("He's going to love this!") but she had not known that her sister would copy her blue-eyed brother-in-law in the message as well!

It wasn't really a big deal, Katniss supposed. If Lucas and Peeta had arrived here earlier, they would have been told of the gate-crashing tradition and _would_ have likely seen her dance.

If only Peeta Mellark would stop _looking_ at her like that.

"Looking at you like what?" The idiotic grin was back in place.

Like she was something precious. Katniss bit her tongue, ensuring that none of her wayward thoughts burst out this time around.

"Why is your name Katniss anyway?" Peeta asked. "It isn't Indian."

"No it isn't." Katniss said. She normally didn't explain the origins of her name to people. A scowl, accompanied by her usual curt tone usually dissuaded most from demanding further explanations.

But Peeta did not react the way most people did. He did not grow irritated the way Galjeet would have, acting like a secret was a wound to his ego. Instead he watched her calmly for several moments, with a patience that could have rivaled that of a bearded sadhu in Varanasi. There was also something else in his eyes. A genuine interest for what she had to say, Katniss realized.

She sighed. It wouldn't do to be rude to him. They _would_ be related by their siblings' marriage after all. "It was Ma who named me. She was a botanist at one point in time. Papa gave me an Indian name as well – Kavita – but for some reason, Katniss stuck."

"Kavita," Peeta pronounced the name carefully, placing a slightly heavier emphasis on the K than was necessary. Katniss liked it. "It sounds beautiful. What does it mean?"

If anyone else had made the comment, Katniss would have rolled her eyes. But Peeta just gave her a smile that seemed so genuinely sweet, with just the right touch of shyness.

"A poem," Katniss said finally. "Kavita means a poem. My father loved singing. He used to call me his little bulbul."

His little songbird. Heat crept up her neck and pooled in her cheeks. She had never admitted that to anyone before. She schooled her expression into its usual scowl. Enough was enough. Now she needed to make a move.

As if sensing the turn of her thoughts, Peeta held out his arms. "Not so fast."

Katniss watched him closely for a moment.

She stepped closer. Inch by inch, until she could feel his warm breath brush her cheeks, hear the quiet swallow of his throat. He smelled like cinnamon. She gave him a smile that made his eyes widen.

_Mission accomplished._ Standing on her tip toes, she gave him a smacking, lightning fast kiss on the cheek. With a quick twirl and duck, she slid under his left arm and raced to the end of the corridor.

Peeta did not make a move to chase her, but stood by the shoes, a stunned look on his handsome face.

"Nice try, Devar ji!" Katniss's face broke out into a wide grin. "Tell Lucas Bhai to keep a pocketful of cash ready!"

**kpkpkp**

The last thing Peeta Mellark heard before Prim's sister slid away into the shadows was a laugh that in itself could have been music.

He brushed a finger over his cheekbone and smiled to himself. This wasn't over yet.

Making his way back to the party room, Peeta caught the eye of a little girl, about five or six years old, her hair in two braids. She stared at him with awe and then blushed when he bent down to talk to her.

"Hello there," he said. "Do you speak English?" He hoped she did. Peeta's interactions with Prim and Lucas had familiarized him with a few words of Hindi, but he still didn't know enough to carry on a proper conversation with someone, let alone a child.

She giggled. "Hello," she said in English.

"What's your name?"

"Priyasi."

"Oh that's a pretty name isn't it?" Peeta couldn't help smiling at the pretty, rosy-cheeked little thing. "Well Priyasi, do you like cake?"

She nodded, her smile widening. "Chocolate is my favourite!"

Peeta nodded to himself. His brief tour of Haydar's old bungalow had included the kitchen as well, which had a decent sized oven. He hoped that Prim would not mind if he made use of her kitchen tomorrow. He never liked making promises he couldn't keep – especially not to little children.

"Well I'm a baker, Priyasi. And I can make you a special chocolate cake tomorrow. But I'm going to need your help."

Priyasi giggled again. "Okay."

He caught hold of the little girl and picked her up in his arms. "Okay now, Priyasi. I want you to tell me where your Katniss didi's room is."

**kpkpkp**

**_Forty five minutes later…_**

"Oh my God, you really are brainless, aren't you?"

When anxious, Johanna Mascarenhas's normally husky voice could rise several pitches, making her sound like a chimpanzee on caffeine. "Katniss, are you sure you put them in your room?"

Johanna ducked the toy bow-and-arrow set that came flying her way as Katniss dug through the mess that was her cupboard. "Oye! Watch it, Eklavya junior!"

"I'm _sure_ I tell you," Katniss said with gritted teeth. "I put them here. Right in this cupboard, under my old jeans."

Johanna snorted. There would have been a time when it would have surprised her if Katniss even owned jeans. In college, Katniss had been one of the most conservative girls in their batch, just a rung below the burkha clad Syed girls who came to class covered head to toe in black. Katniss was a scowling, serious girl who perpetually wore loose, long sleeved kurtis or salwar suits, and never spoke a word in class. An entirely unremarkable person to someone like Johanna, who had been born in Goa. Beautiful, free-spirited Goa with its beaches, rave parties and pretty Portugese churches. Johanna had missed it terribly when she had gone to college in Mumbai.

Johanna had not expected to like someone like Katniss, or even talk to her, even though they took the same B.E.S.T bus every morning to the college. But when a group of men inside the bus had started harassing Johanna, one of them trying to grope her under her short skirt, it had been Katniss who had come to her rescue.

Katniss, who weighed little more than a 45 kilo sack of flour, had taken off a thick-soled Kohlapuri sandal and started hitting the man who had tried to grope Johanna. They created such a ruckus that the conductor had thrown all of them off the bus, oblivious to the curses Johanna had sent his way.

"Okay, little one." Johanna had tugged on Katniss's braid once her temper had cooled. "You're going to be my new best friend here in Mumbai."

And she was.

Johanna, with her unapologetic Goan philosophy on living and loving, often shocked Katniss, with her strict military household upbringing. She also helped loosen the other girl up – buying and forcing Katniss into her first pair of jeans and taking (okay, dragging her kicking and screaming) to the occasional night club. Johanna had also been there to hold Katniss when she'd had her heart broken five years ago. Fucking Galjeet Varma with his uppity Punjabi accent and hypocritical ideologies. Johanna had never forgiven him for what he had done to her friend.

For a long time, Johanna had thought Katniss would never recover. Being left at the altar, on her own wedding day, would have sent many a girl into a deep depression. Taunts and whispers had begun the moment people knew that the groom was a no-show. "What do you think happened? Do you think there is something wrong with her?" Haydar had threatened to shoot them if they didn't get out of his house.

But the damage had already been done. People looked upon Katniss with suspicion now – as if she was tainted – as if there was something wrong with _her_, instead of the jerk who'd jilted her.

Today, however, things were different. There had been a glow to Katniss's face that Johanna had rarely seen in college, when she'd told everyone about the shoe-stealing mission being accomplished. At the end of the wedding ceremony, she'd announced, with a smirk, Johanna noted, that the groom's shoes were being held ransom and that he needed to pay his sisters (or at least the lot of giggling girls who were now surrounding the mandap platform) five thousand rupees.

Now, for some reason, the shoes had disappeared and Katniss was in full-scale panic mode.

"You do realize that someone must have taken the shoes right? And that the first place they'd think of was your room?" Johanna pointed out.

"I didn't –"

"Katniss didi?" A girl poked her head into the room. "I have a letter for you."

"Lata, I don't have time –"

"It's from the man in the blue sherwani. The _gora_ guy. He says you know him."

Had it not been for the urgency of the situation. Johanna would have been amused by the dark – almost wine-red shade – that tinted Katniss's dusky skin.

Before Katniss made a move, Johanna snatched the letter out of the girl's hand.

"Johanna!" Well, well. Katniss really _was_ getting anxious about this letter.

Johanna quickly skimmed through the contents and then whistled. "You kissed your sister's devar, Brainless? Shabash, mere sher! Is he hot?

"God, it wasn't like - Johanna! Let me have that!"

Katniss snatched the letter from Johanna's hands and began to read:

_ Dear Katniss a.k.a, my brother's Saali-ji,_

_ I hope you are well. I am writing to inform you that the shoes that you so cleverly stole from my brother (I really liked that kiss, by the way) are currently in my custody. _

_ Now I may be a firangi, as you called me, but I do not like getting in the way of a tradition that has so many people excited. _

_You can have the shoes back on one condition: a dance or a song. Your choice :)_

_I will be waiting for you outside your room._

_Sincerely,_

_Peeta Mellark a.k.a. __the bride's__ Devar (Not yours. Remember I have no fraternal feelings for you whatsoever, so feel free to kiss me at any time.)_

Katniss looked up from the letter to Johanna's grinning face.

She was in so much trouble.

**A few more characters briefly introduced in this chapter:**

**Johanna Mascarenhas = Johanna Mason**

**Pinky "Glimmer" Khanna = Glimmer**

**Priyasi Varma = Posy Hawthorne**

**English translations to the Hindi words/phrases in this chapter:**

**_Jaan =_**** Life (a term of endearment used between lovers or sometimes between family members)**

**_Bhai_**** = Brother**

**_Gora_**** = White / Caucasian**

**_Devar _****= Brother-in-law **

**_Saali_**** = Sister-in-law**

_**ji = **_**A suffix used after a name or term of address. Denotes respect. **

**Little notes for reference:**

**Johanna refers to Katniss as Eklavya – an ancient figure from Hindu mythology who was a prodigy at shooting a bow and arrow. **

**Priyanka Chopra is a Bollywood actress who also appears in the song Katniss dances to during the Henna ceremony. If you'd like to have a listen, check out "Desi Girl" (movie: Dostana)**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**An Exchange…Of Sorts**

Peeta paced quietly outside Katniss's bedroom. He had no reason to be nervous, he told himself repeatedly. No reason to feel as if someone was flipping flap jacks in his belly.

It was strange. The effect Katniss Singhania seemed to have on him. How it had happened from the moment he first saw her – long before Prim sent him that video of the henna ceremony – with those wide grey eyes (uncommon for an Indian girl), her fine brows arching faintly from a point between her eyes and gracefully thickening like wings. The dusky tone of her skin only added to her overall exotic appeal.

Lucas had once told Peeta about different celestial deities in Hinduism, including Indian nymphs. A story that Peeta recalled most vividly was the one of Menaka – an _apsara_ who had managed to seduce an old ascetic out of his deepest meditation. An Indian Aphrodite, Lucas had called her, even though Menaka wasn't a goddess of love.

Peeta wouldn't have called Katniss a Menaka. Despite the kiss she'd bestowed on him earlier, it was clear to him that the girl's intention had been to distract, not seduce. He might have not dated anyone for the past four years (despite Finnick's frequent attempts of hooking him up), but he knew when a girl was deliberately trying to turn him on. Their attempts made him usually burst out laughing. Finnick said that it was the reason Peeta was still single.

"You're way too picky," his best friend had told Peeta candidly. "If the girl is hot, who cares? If you don't like her, leave her as a one-night stand."

But one-night stands was not how Peeta operated. Peeta liked talking to women, even flirting with them occasionally, but there had been only one girl he'd been seriously involved with for several years. Someone he would have, maybe, four years ago married as well.

"They're all so contrived," he'd told Finnick about the girls in bars and clubs. "Fake bodies, fake hair, even fake feelings. I may be single now, but I don't want that. I want something real."

Maybe someone as real as the girl who had now stepped out of her room and turned to face him, the little beads in her braid catching the light as it swung over her shoulder. No, not beads, Peeta realized. Pearls. Seed pearls, to be exact.

Menaka be damned. Katniss did not even have to try. Even though he could sense her fury in the tense lines of her body, she moved towards him with a natural grace, the little anklets on her feet pattering like raindrops in a storm. The outfit she was wearing was a little more conservative than what some of the other women were wearing seen at the wedding. But, somehow, that in itself drew Peeta's attention – her long-sleeved tight fitting top only serving to emphasize her tiny waist and small, exquisite breasts. The heavy skirt she wore did nothing to hide the subtle sway of her hips. He wondered how she would react if he told her that the shade of orange she was wearing was his favourite colour.

She held out the letter he'd written. "Your request is ambiguous."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's ambiguous about it? It's quite simple. You either sing a song or dance in public. Maybe let me record it?"

He couldn't help but grin at the delicate red shade that crept up her neck. Blushes weren't always easy visible on skin such as hers', but Peeta had spent an abnormal amount of time studying this girl's face, long before he met her. Anger did not normally look good on girls – at least not on the ones Peeta had met so far. But there was a strange appeal to Katniss Singhania's fury, a vivid clarity that it brought to her grey eyes.

The girl was beautiful. There was no question in Peeta's mind about it.

"Well, hell-looo there." A seductive voice called out behind Katniss. A girl, stepped out of the shadows, her hair styled into a short, spiky bob. She did not walk, so much as sway, towards Peeta, calling attention to her breasts, encased in a skimpy sequined top, and the piercing on her belly button, the pallo of her black sari draped loosely over one shoulder. Her brown eyes, however, were clear and sharp.

"Johanna Mascarenhas. Goan born and bred. Katniss's best friend over here. I like throwing axes at trees and myself at hot men."

"Peeta Mellark. The groom's brother, I guess," he said, barely suppressing a laugh. He had never come across the female version of Finnick before. He had a feeling that this woman and his friend would get along like a house on fire.

Johanna studied him the way one would study a photo frame on a wall, seeing if there were any places that needed straightening. Shaking her head from side to side, she came to some sort of conclusion before breaking out into a smile.

"So you're the pretty boy who managed to outwit my brainless friend here. How did you manage to do it? Was it the kiss?" She ignored Katniss's outraged squeak.

Peeta shrugged. "Don't know what you're talking about. And even if I did, I don't kiss and tell."

"A gentleman." Johanna looked impressed. "Well then, since I'm clearly not needed here, I will leave you to your negotiations."

**kpkpkp**

_"…since I'm clearly not needed here, I'll leave you to your negotiations."_

Katniss could not believe what Johanna was saying. Johanna was supposed to be her friend! She wasn't supposed to flirt with the enemy! Handsome as he was.

_The enemy, Katniss?_ a quiet voice questioned in her head. _Really?_

She gritted her teeth. Okay, so maybe she was being childish. It was a game, after all, not a death sentence.

Though Peeta talked courteously with Johanna, his eyes constantly moved back to Katniss, almost as if he was judging her reactions to what he was saying. The smile he gave her after Johanna left them alone was different as well from the one he'd flashed at her friend. That one had been careful, even a little practiced. The smile Peeta gave Katniss on the other hand was a little crooked – goofy even – a toothy smile that smiled itself without your face having any control over it. A warm feeling spread through her insides, muddling her mind even further.

"So then? How about it, Katniss ji?"

"I don't sing or dance, Peeta _ji_."

"Well then I suggest you go back and tell everyone you lost the shoes. Poor Lucas will be stuck on that platform forever."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!"

He raised his eyebrows and blinked. _Did men really have such long eye-lashes? _"Well then, Katniss, as the saying goes in your language – _joote do, paise lo_."

Give the shoes, take your money. Katniss did not know where he'd managed to learn the damn phrase or even managed to say it in that awkward accent of his.

_You think his accent is cute._

Katniss wished her inner voice would shut up for once.

"Look…" she took a deep breath. "I don't like singing. Or dancing in public. What happened yesterday was an exception. An aberration. Maybe the moon was full, okay?"

The expressions on Peeta's face warred between amusement and concern. He gently caught hold of the hands she was waving around in a panic. His hands were big and slightly calloused. Despite her nerves, Katniss felt herself relaxing in their warm grip.

"You shouldn't be worried, you know. I'm not trying to embarrass you. I really think you're a beautiful dancer. And Prim said that you sing really well, like your father."

He didn't mean to do it – Katniss was sure of that – but his casual reference to her father made her heart seize up. It wasn't sharp the way it was in those first few years after Papa had died – but the pain was there all the same.

Peeta had stopped smiling. He was looking at her with an all-too-knowing look on his face. "Wait a second."

He made his way to the drapes of a nearby window, shifted them aside and withdrew a pair of shoes.

"Here," he said kindly. "You don't need to do anything. Consider the deal null and void."

Katniss tightly gripped the shoes he'd placed in her hands.

She'd done it.

She'd played on his sympathies (without really meaning to) and gotten the shoes. She wouldn't have to sing or dance. She could now hover safely on the sidelines. Remain invisible, the way she had been for the past five years.

She couldn't explain the disappointment that mingled with her sense of relief when she watched him walk away.

**kpkpkp**

As a baker, Peeta done his fair share of negotiations with suppliers over the cost of supplies and raw material to run a successful family business. But never had he come across anyone as vicious or brutal a negotiator as the group of Indian girls now congregating around his hapless brother and giggling sister-in-law, demanding payment for a pair of shoes.

"Four thousand?" Lucas pleaded weakly. Oh God, his brother was such a sap. It was probably why he went into academics and not business.

"Six!" A small, dark-skinned girl of about Prim's age shouted. Peeta recognized her as his sister-in-law's best friend, Ruhana or Rue, as everyone called her. "Six thousand! This is our final offer!"

Peeta saw his father standing next to Haydar Ali, smiling at what the other man was telling him – both laughing at Lucas's frustration. Finnick and Darius were by the bar, flirting with Johanna and a few other girls.

Katniss was standing next to Rue, the calm expression on her face completely at odds with the panic he'd seen upstairs.

"Fine!" Lucas shouted. "Fine! But I don't have that much in Indian money. Only American dollars that I exchanged at the airport in Toronto."

"Did someone say _American dollars_?" Haydar's stance changed from lazy to wildly alert. "Come here, my boy. Let's have an exchange, shall we? What's the going rate for USD to INR?"

Someone shouted out the rate by checking their cell phone. Notes were exchanged (Haydar examined the hundred dollar bill by holding it up to the light) and finally – finally – his brother got back his shoes to a round of applause and laughter.

Peeta approached Katniss who was laughing with Rue and another girl. "I didn't know you guys were so brutal."

Katniss looked at him and shrugged. "Well that's who we are. Violent, distrustful, manipulative and deadly. You should be scared, devar ji."

"I'm not your devar," Peeta reminded her. "So you're a real piece of work, then."

"Maybe." Katniss gave him a smile.

Behind Katniss, Peeta sensed Rue watching them closely. She cleared her throat. "Farheen and I have to decide how to spend this money," she said, giving the other girl a meaningful look. "See you later, Katniss. Peeta."

"See you," Peeta said, without looking away from Katniss.

She bit her lip, looking a little shy and uncertain now that the high of collecting the money had worn off. She cleared her throat.

"It was nice…um, what you did. I didn't expect you to let me off like that."

He shrugged. "There's a limit to teasing." He'd wanted to tease Katniss, not upset her. And she clearly had been upset at the idea of performing in public. Peeta wondered if it had anything to do with the comments people made about her off-handedly throughout the course of the party. Most of them had been in Hindi, but Peeta had picked out a few who spoke in English:

_That poor girl! _

_After what happened to Katniss…_

_I heard she was a cold fish, that one…never smiling. So serious all the time. No wonder he left._

The casual callousness with which the gossip was delivered infuriated Peeta. He did not know what had happened to Katniss, though he could tell the gossip was related to something that had happened in her past – her _romantic_ past. Recent or old, Peeta couldn't tell. Then again, some scandals took on a life of their own. Peeta of all people should know that after what had happened with his mother. _Those Mellark boys. I wonder how they stood it._

Peeta shook his head, unwilling to darken his thoughts with old memories. He noticed Katniss staring at him with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I must be really easy on the eyes," he commented. "You can't seem to take yours off me."

God, he did love seeing her blush. She shook his head. "Are you always such a terrible flirt?"

"Not always," he said truthfully. "It's your fault really. I can't help myself when I'm around you."

Katniss's breath caught in her throat and she let out a nervous laugh. Her eyes flitted away from his, as if looking for a means of escape.

Peeta's mind worked rapidly. She was jittery, Katniss Singhania. He needed to find a way to put her at ease. "Hey, Katniss."

"Yes?"

"Would you be my translator?"

She blinked and gave an adorable, baffled shake of her head. "What?"

"I'm a little clueless around here," he said with a shrug. It wasn't entirely true - he could potentially get by, if needed - but she didn't need to know that. "I kind of want to know what's happening. I heard there would be some kind of entertainment later on."

There was a long pause before Katniss replied. "Okay," she said.

"So you'll allow it?"

"I'll allow it."

She was smiling.

So was he.

Peeta cursed the loud noise at the entrance broke the spell between them. But Katniss's smile had only widened.

"Looks like our entertainment has arrived," she said.

Peeta turned around to see three strangely dressed women – _wait a minute, were they women or men in drag?_ – enter the hall. They fluttered in – colourful birds decked in saris and cheap jewelry – one of them was wearing an orange wig and purple lipstick. Their brown hands clapped a rhythmic beat, followed by a phrase that almost sounded like a greeting, but not quite:

"Hai! Hai!"

_Clapclapclap._

"Hai! Hai!"

_Clapclapclap. _

Katniss smiled at him and tucked a hand around his arm. "You, my firangi friend, are about to have your first acquaintance with _hijras._"

_**Joote Do, Paise Lo - "**_**Give the shoes, take your money." The phrase that Peeta challenges Katniss with comes from the super hit Hindi song titled...you guessed it... "Joote Do, Paise Lo" from the movie _Hum Aapke Hain Kaun_. Check it out if interested :)**

**The three "colourful birds" as you may have guessed are Venia, Flavius and Octavia.**

**As for who/what are ****_hijras_****? You can probably guess from the description here, but you'll most definitely find out about them in more detail in the next chapter.**

**In case anyone is wondering about the "M" Rating, the story will earn that rating in a future chapter/s, but it will be a bit of a slow burn. After all, it wouldn't be a Bollywood story if our hero and heroine didn't dance around each other a bit, would it? :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**The Three Dancing Hijras **

"What did you call them?" Peeta, in spite of how baffled he must have been, looked interested as the three colourfully dressed figures sauntered over to Haydar uncle and Effie bua, and the paused before them with a carefully choreographed greeting.

"Namaste," greeted the first, pressing her hands together, with a toss of her bright orange hair.

"Aadab," greeted the second, curving a hand before her face the Muslim way.

"Sat Sri Aakal," greeted the third, with a big smile on her tattooed face.

And then all together: "Good Eee-ven-ing, ladies and gentlemen!"

Firoza, Oorvashi and Veni – three characters who had been around for as long as Katniss could remember – for every new birth in her circle of family and friends, for every wedding there ever was. Their behaviour had never failed to fascinate Katniss; she had not even been all that annoyed when Firoza had suggested getting a full body wax when she was sixteen. _Haila,_ _you're so hairy, jaaneman! _

"Hijras," Katniss repeated absentmindedly, marveling at the hard muscle Peeta hid under the sleeve of his sherwani. She hadn't really thought much before placing her hand on his arm – it had been a friendly gesture on her part – but she was surprised by how much she liked it. Peeta wasn't the tallest man in the room, but he was strong. She could feel the warmth of his skin under the heavy silk, the gentle curve of the bicep ending at his elbow. She wondered what it would feel like to the touch – if his arms were covered with down as blonde as his hair. Peeta placed a warm hand over her fingers, gently but effectively, locking her in place.

"You were saying?"

"Yes, sorry. Hijras. They're basically what you'd call transgendered people in English. People seek out their blessings on good occasions. It's said that the curse of a wounded hijra can ruin you for life."

Peeta looked amused. "Do you really believe that?"

Katniss shrugged. "I believe they are smart. They've found ways of facing the world's scorn with smiles on their faces." For a long time Katniss had pitied the hijras and the way they were treated by society at large. Now, however, she only saw strength. A hard-lying resilience shielded with silly mannerisms, odd dressing styles, and humour. Katniss wished she was half as strong as they were.

"That makes sense," Peeta said, gently squeezing her fingers. Katniss realized that she was gripping his arm too tightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I—"

"It's fine. You're fine." He turned away from Katniss to watch the hijras again who had begun to clap. Someone handed Firoza a mic. Veni sat on the ground and pressed a few keys on the harmonium "So what are they doing now?"

"They're singing a song…It'll probably be laced with innuendo, just so you know."

Peeta waggled his brows. Katniss laughed. "Stop it."

Before Peeta could respond, Oorvashi threw back her hair and began to sing:

_Mere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai?_

_ Jo hai naam wala, wohi to badnaam hai_

_ Mere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai?_

"She's setting the scene for us," Katniss whispered in Peeta's ear. "A few couples have come to the hijras for their blessings. She's teasing them about their reputations in society – do they not know, she asks, that even famous people become infamous once they enter a hijra's compound?"

Firoza swayed her hips and approached a couple by the bar – Glimmer Khanna's parents, Katniss noted – the tall, statuesque Mrs. Khanna and the short, roly-poly man she married (for his money, Effie bua once said). Mrs. Khanna already looked a little frightened at the hijra's approach.

_Jiski biwi lambi uska bhi bada naam hai_

_Jiski biwi lambi…_

_Jiski biwi lambi uska bhi bada naam hai_

_Kothe se lagalo, seedi ka kya kaam hai_

_Kothe se lagalo, seedi ka kya kaam hai_

_Mere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai_

"If your wife is tall, it's a good thing," Katniss told Peeta. "If your wife is tall, it's a very good thing. Put her up against the wall – who needs a ladder." She laughed a little awkwardly.

Peeta blinked. "What?"

"So um, that he would be able to…climb her?" Katniss winced, feeling her cheeks heat up faster than the new gas stove in the kitchen. "You know…since he's short and she's tall…" Oh God, could she sound more stupid?

It was not until she saw Peeta's lips twitching that she realized what was happening.

"You jerk!" she cried out. "You understand everything I'm saying!"

Peeta let forth a deep belly laugh. "I'm not _that_ stupid, Katniss. I understand innuendo."

"Oh well, I'm sorry – I'm not the best translator there is," Katniss muttered.

Peeta was grinning. "It's not that. It's just how your face looked when you were trying to explain the innuendo to me. It's just…you're so pure, Katniss. It's kind of cute."

He wasn't wrong. Katniss had never understood innuendo in most Hindi songs until she was in college. Johanna had been the ones to explain them to her. Katniss had not really been bothered by Johanna's ragging – Johanna always ragged everyone – but somehow, Peeta's words just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Well I'm glad you think I'm _cute_!" she spat out the last word.

Peeta's blue eyes widened. "Hey. I didn't mean – Katniss…Katniss wait!"

Katniss unraveled her fingers from his grip and began to move away quickly, not realizing in her anger that she'd reached a corner of the hall, and not a door.

"Katniss!" Peeta sounded a little out of breath as he caught up to her. "Katniss will you please listen to me? Look let's sit here." Furious, but unwilling to make a scene - Katniss could sense Glimmer Khanna and her posse watching them - Katniss followed Peeta to a small unoccupied loveseat against the wall.

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad," he said after they both sat down. He was watching her closely "When I said you're pure…I meant it in a good way. I _like_ that about you. The way you tried explaining everything to me was adorable. You're just…" He let out a deep breath. There was a pink tint to his cheekbones. "You're great, okay? You're perfect."

The anger and humiliation simmering inside Katniss gently subsided. He liked her, he said. Liked her awkwardness and naïve explanations. _Her_, of all people. Katniss wanted to ask him _Why?_

She was more afraid of hearing the answer than asking the question itself.

**kpkpkp**

"If your wife is fat, you're very fortunate," Katniss was gasping so badly with laughter that Peeta could only barely understand the verses the hijras were singing for her aunt Effie. "Put her on a bed now – what's the need for a pillow? Oh God, Effie bua's face looks like a brinjal!"

Peeta grinned. He wouldn't call Effie _fat_, per se, but she was a little rounder than the other women at the wedding. If anything, Effie only looked more embarrassed when big, slouchy Haydar loudly declared that from now on, she would be his Little Pillow. The comment sent everyone in the vicinity howling with laughter.

Katniss, too, seemed to be enjoying herself. After their talk, she had calmed down several notches, and then continued with the translating as if nothing had happened.

But something _had_ happened between the two of them. They had a real moment. A connection. Peeta knew this. He also knew that Katniss was now studiously ignoring the subject by reprising her role as his translator, even though the flush that had come over her after his confession had never truly left her face.

"Oh, oh - they're approaching the newlyweds now!" Katniss said.

Peeta watched the three hijras approach a stage at the very centre of the hall where Lucas and Primada sat on large golden chairs. His brother was laughing at something Prim was saying – Peeta guessed Prim was doing a bit of translating for Lucas as well.

This time Veni was the one who was singing:

_Jiski biwi gori, uska bhi bada naam hai,_

_Jiski biwi gori…_

_Jiski biwi gori, uska bhi bada naam hai,_

_Kamre mein bitha do, bijli ka kya kaam hai_

_Kamre mein bitha do, bijli ka kya kaam hai_

_Mere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai _

"If your wife is fair, you are fortunate," Katniss whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. "If your wife is fair, oh you are so fortunate. Place her in a dark room – who needs electricity."

Peeta watched Prim's face turn nearly as red as the bridal sari she was wearing. The three hijras however took turns to affectionately pinch Prim's cheeks. He laughed out loud when they pinched Lucas's cheeks. A pause in the singing caught everyone's attention. Katniss's friend, Johanna, was leaning against the orange haired hijra and whispering something into her ear.

With a wicked smile, Johanna nodded towards where Peeta and Katniss were sitting.

"Oye hoye!" the three birds shrieked and, before Peeta realized what was happening, he and Katniss were surrounded by a crowd.

He heard Katniss whimper something in Hindi – probably that it was a mistake and they were not married or probably cursing Johanna who was at the front and centre of the crowd, her arms linked with a grinning Finnick and Darius. The hijras did not seem to hear Katniss's protests and began to clap and sing once more. The opening stanzas were a little familiar now and he could make out the words:

_Jiski biwi choti, uska bhi bada naam hai_

_Jiski biwi choti…_

Then, without warning, the tall orange haired hijra and the tattooed hijra caught hold of Katniss and dropped her onto Peeta's lap. They cheered and began a rapid flurry of clapping – joined in this time by the audience. Katniss covered her face with her hands. Peeta draped one arm over her knees and used his other arm to carefully grip her by the waist.

"What is it? What're they singing?" He whispered into her ear.

Katniss removed her hands from her face and replied, through gritted teeth. "A man with a small wife is fortunate. Oh yes, a man with a small wife is also very fortunate. Make her sit on your lap – who needs children?"

Peeta's stomach quivered from the laughter he bit back. In his arms, Katniss stiffened.

"I don't know if it would be a good thing exactly," he said, feeling deeply amused. "Considering that pedophilia is a crime. Though with a hot child-wife like you..._oof!_"

For a small woman, Katniss could sure pack a punch. Though Peeta had wrestled in high school and college, and generally tried to keep himself in good shape, his chest smarted from the blow she'd just given him. It was only when he looked into her eyes the he understood Katniss wasn't really annoyed. Katniss was trying to look stern, but her lips twitched. The more she tried to hold on to her laugh, the more her mouth moved. A gentle poke into her side had her bursting into a peal of silvery laughter. Soon, they both were laughing hysterically, neither noticing or caring about the looks they got from the other wedding guests – some annoyed like Glimmer Khanna ("She always gets the good looking ones!" she muttered to her friends), some delighted like Prim and Johanna, and many simply curious.

They stayed in the same position long after the guests had wandered off and the hijras had been paid by a very happy Haydar. Peeta gaze flitted from Katniss's eyes to her lips, entranced by their softness, their dusky rose shade. Lips that she moistened delicately with her tongue.

He stifled a groan, gently trying to adjust her body to a position where she would not feel his rapidly growing erection. He winced when she stiffened and looked at him with shocked, wide grey eyes.

_ Too late. _

To his surprise, Katniss smirked slightly. "I guess you're right. For you to have brotherly feelings for me would be out of the question."

He gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I just…I couldn't help it. If I'd known you'd be in my lap at some point tonight, I would've taken care of…things earlier."

He bit his lip when Katniss frowned a bit, as if trying to puzzle out his words. Then she blushed again. "Oh," she said softly.

"But could we just I don't know…sit on this chair facing each other until I...I don't think I want anyone else seeing me like this."

"Okay." She sighed. "I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Carefully, ensuring that no part of her touched _him_, Katniss began to move off Peeta. To do so, she gripped hold of his left knee – his very hard, almost metallic – left knee.

She frowned.

"It's a prosthetic," Peeta explained, and then raised the leg of his pants when he sensed her confusion. "Lost my leg in uh…in an accident four years ago." He grimaced, feeling himself grow flaccid once more. _Goodbye boner. _

"Does it…" Katniss looked worried. "Wait a minute, they just tossed me into your lap. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

He wanted to simultaneously laugh and kiss her silly. He decided to stick to the laughing for now. "Katniss, in case you haven't realized, you're not all that big. Nor particularly heavy. I lift bags of flour back home that are heavier than you are."

For some reason, the comment made Katniss blush deeply. He wondered what she was thinking. But then she smiled at him…and he forgot everything else.

**kpkpkp**

"What happened?" Katniss asked Peeta who was staring at her as if in a daze. "Peeta?" she snapped her fingers before his eyes. "Where did you go?"

He blinked a few times and then sighed. "Yeah, sorry. Well yeah, so…we were talking about my prosthetic. There was an accident, like I said. A drunk driver T-boned me one night when I was driving home back from work. They said I was lucky I made it out alive."

Without knowing, without thinking, Katniss reached out to hold his white-knuckled hand. He interlaced his fingers through hers.

"I'm not saying that I'm happy the accident happened, but it helped bring a lot of things into perspective. Like how I wanted to live my life, _who_ I wanted to live it with. I was dating a girl at the time. We'd been together since high school. She was my first girlfriend, first everything I guess. For a long time I thought I'd marry her."

Something inside Katniss twisted at the thought of Peeta with another girl. She pushed back the feeling before it turned into something more than she was capable of handling at this time.

"So that was it? You had an accident and you just pushed her away?" she couldn't help keeping the accusation out of her voice.

He shook his head and, for the first time that evening, looked rather sad. "It was a long time coming. By my fourth year at university, we both knew it. I loved her, but I wasn't _in_ love with each her. She wanted to stay with me after the accident - I knew she would have - but I couldn't go through with it. Using her that way would be like using another crutch. I'm probably not making much sense –"

"No, you are," Katniss interrupted quietly. She looked up into his earnest blue eyes. "You make perfect sense."

It was easier to stick to the familiar. To what you knew. That's what Katniss had done. She hadn't even looked anywhere else. Look where that got her now?

"There was a boy I knew once," she began. "I met him at the archery classes Haydar Uncle enrolled me in when I was fourteen. He was two years older. We were best friends."

Jeet and Kavi. Kavi and Jeet. Nicknames that they used only for each other. Utterly inseparable from the moment they first met.

Peeta gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Many people thought we were siblings," Katniss recalled, pushing through the pain that came with these memories, concentrating only on the feel of his finger on her skin. "Or cousins, maybe. But when I turned sixteen, he began looking at me differently. He would watch me when he thought I wasn't looking. He'd get all jealous and angry when another boy even talked to me. I didn't even understand why until he kissed me one day.

"Of course Haydar uncle wouldn't let me date at the time. If the boy wanted to be my boyfriend, we'd have to get engaged, Haydar Uncle said. So we did the year I turned eighteen. We planned to marry once I finished my studies and turned twenty-one." Katniss's mouth felt unusually dry. "On the day of my wedding he didn't show up. I found out nearly a year later that he was getting married to another friend of mine – Malini. Galjeet's mother said they have two kids now."

Peeta swore under his breath. She was grateful that he did not say he was _sorry_ the way other people did - like a lost fiancé was equivalent to getting widowed. Instead, Peeta put an arm around her shoulders and held her close. Katniss's eyes fluttered shut. Instead of pulling away like she would have with anyone else, she allowed herself to sink into his warmth, the feel of his lips breathing softly into her hair. She was surprised that the pain of Galjeet's betrayal did not hurt as much as it usually did. For the first time, since her father's death, Katniss felt safe.

**In this chapter, the hijras (Venia, Octavia and Flavius / Veni, Oorvashi and Firoza) sing a popular 1980s song called "Mere Angne Mein" from the movie _Laawaaris. _There are two versions of this song; I chose the one that features actor Amitabh Bachchan dressed in drag, mostly because it's a lot funnier :) **

**This chapter was a little tricky to write because of the song/dance sequence of the hijras. I really hope nothing got lost in translation! **

**And yes, in case you're wondering, "Malini" (the girl Galjeet married in lieu of Katniss) is Madge! **

**English translations to Hindi words/phrases in this chapter:**

**_Haila,_ _you're so hairy, jaaneman!: _Oh God, you're so hairy, sweetheart!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A quick note of thanks to those of you who are reading, following and reviewing this story! I LOVE hearing what you think of these characters and am delighted by all the positive response. :D**_

**CHAPTER 5**

**The Bridal Farewell – Part 1**

To an outsider, it would have seemed that former brigadier general Haydar Ali was enjoying the evening in his usual fashion – at the bar, sipping Chivas Regal, smiling and nodding at the wedding guests, occasionally even grunting at them (HaydarSpeak for "Hello"). Few would have noticed the glint in Haydar's hazel eyes, the shrewdly assessing look he was giving Lucas's blond brother, who was now snuggled up with Katniss on the loveseat in the corner of the big wedding hall.

Haydar had been watching them for quite some time – ever since the boy had approached Katniss after Lucas had paid the girls for his shoes. They made a striking pair, his niece and Primada's new devar, with their contrasting dark and light skin tones, the palpable energy that accompanied their interactions, tinged with an awkwardness that would have been endearing, had Haydar not been worried about the boy's intentions.

It has been a long time since Haydar had seen Katniss smile – fully, widely – and even then, not like this. When the hijras had playfully deposited Katniss into the boy's lap, Haydar had fully expected her to flush angrily and run away. But then, the boy had said something that made her laugh. Out loud. The laughter had somehow diffused the awkwardness between them and she'd stayed with the boy, talking seriously to him for a while before nestling into the crook of his arm.

The action had given Haydar pause. Unlike Effie, who was strict about proper behavior in the household at all times, Haydar usually relaxed a few of those rules during weddings, refusing to interfere with the harmless flirting that took place during these events. Things did happen, of course – young people often found ways to sneak out and engage in trysts, returning to the hall with bright eyes, mussed hair and swollen lips.

Katniss had never been amongst them – even when engaged to Galjeet. She was reserved by nature and, unlike Prim, intimidating to most young men. Underneath all that, however, she was exceedingly vulnerable. Katniss's friendship was hard-earned, her trust won with even more difficulty.

Haydar remembered a letter Baldev had written about his daughters when he was still alive: _Primada is a happy child. Every day for her is filled with smiles and sunshine. Katniss is more intense, her heart as deep as a well. When she falls in love, it is for life. I can already see this in the way she behaves around her little sister – like a fierce little mother bear with a cub. It will not be long before she grows up and boys enter the picture. I will need to make sure that she can find someone who will love her just as deeply. _

A few feet away, dressed in a pale blue sari that matched her eyes, Lajjo Singhania was staring into the distance, her plate of food sitting untouched in her lap. Haydar hoped Lajjo Bhabhi wasn't going to go into one of her depressive episodes again. He caught Effie's eye and nodded towards the vacant blonde woman. Effie gently began talking to Lajjo until the other woman blinked several times and began to eat her rice and daal.

Haydar let forth a sigh of relief. Lajjo had never been much of a mother to either Katniss or Primada, her absence affecting Katniss more than it had ever affected Prim. Haydar had done his best with the girls in those early years but he had never been able to fill the void of a mother. By the time he married Effie, Katniss was sixteen and too self-reliant to come to either him or any other adult with her problems.

Haydar placed the glass tumbler back on the bar and casually walked to where the couple were now seated. A quick clearing of his throat had them both springing apart, faces flushed. If it had been another couple, he would have been amused.

"Sweetheart, the Bidaai will be in an hour. Why don't you go and get something to eat?"

"Yes, Uncle Haydar."

Haydar caught hold of the startled boy before he made a move to follow her. "Wait a minute now, son. I'd like to have a word with you."

Katniss frowned. "But Peeta hasn't eaten either Uncle Haydar."

"I'm not going to let my guests go hungry, sweetheart," Haydar said dryly. "Nor am I going to eat one up for breakfast. What say, boy?"

The boy, to his credit, looked a little sheepish and gave Katniss a reassuring smile. "I'll be okay, Katniss."

"Will you join me later?" Katniss blurted out before turning a deep red. "I mean you don't have to…you're probably bored –"

"I'm never bored of you," the boy cut her off in that too-earnest voice of his. Haydar raised an eyebrow. Either the kid was sincere or a really good player. "And until you get tired of me, I will always come looking for you."

A smile hovered on Katniss's lips. "_Achcha_…uh, I mean, okay."

Once his niece left, Haydar sat down with the Mellark boy. "So then, Peter…"

"Peeta," the boy said. "Like cheetah, I guess."

Haydar nodded. "I'm sorry, an honest mistake. We have a beer named Cheetah here in Mumbai. It's pretty good. So right, Pee-tah," he said, exaggerating the sound of the boy's name. "I've been talking to your father for a while. He seems like a good man. Your brother, too, has made the little one very happy."

"Thank you, Sir. He really loves her," Peeta said.

"So he does." Haydar leaned back in the sofa and rested his left ankle over his right knee. "What about you though?"

Peeta looked puzzled. "What about me?"

"You've been spending quite a bit of time with my other niece. Now I don't like playing a Hindi film villain more than any other guardian, but my question is quite simple, Pee-_tah_. What are your intentions towards her? Are you planning to propose at some point or are you simply indulging in what you young people call _time-pass_?"

The boy's skin reddened, but he gave Haydar a firm look. "It is too early for proposals, Mr. Haydar, but I'm not going to lie. I'm definitely interested in Katniss and am not talking with her to pass time."

"And I'm just supposed to take you at your word, is it? Look boy. We are an open-minded family…to an extent. But this is not Canada." Haydar gave the boy a steely glare. "People may wear suits and boots and mini-dresses and jeans in this country, but underneath it all, they think just the way their dhoti-clad ancestors once did. If this is just a flirtation for you, then I suggest you leave Katniss alone. Despite what may have happened to her – ah, I can tell from your face that you know what happened – there have been other offers for my niece. Proposals from good boys who come from highly respected families here. Katniss may have turned those offers down, but I know for a fact that they are still interested."

Peeta's fingers clenched into fists. "Well, if she turned them down, I don't see why I should be worried."

"Katniss had the chance to go to Canada once, did you know?" Haydar continued, ignoring the boy's words. "Got admission into an urban forestry program at a university in British Columbia. But I only had enough money to send one of the girls abroad. Katniss told me to save the money for Prim. Wanted her little sister to become a doctor more than anything in the world."

"If you think this story is going to dissuade me from liking her, you're going to have to try a little harder, Sir."

Haydar smiled. "Oh no. What I'm trying to tell you is that my niece is one of a kind. I'm trying to point out that you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve someone like her."

The boy was quiet for a long moment. "You're right. Katniss is special. It amazes me that she took so much time to talk to me tonight. But whatever you may say, I'd like to believe I'm not like every other guy out there. I would like to get to know Katniss better – if she's interested in me." His blue eyes looked right into Haydar's. "I won't ever push myself at her. But if she's interested, I will continue to pursue her. I will hope that at some point I will convince you as well. I know you are important to her."

Haydar scrutinized the boy's face, looking for hints of insincerity. _Test one: passed._ He rose to his feet. "If Katniss wants to be with you, I will not stop her. But you're not off the hook yet, boy. I still have my eye on you. And I have a gun."

**kpkpkp**

"Katniss, will you stop looking over there?" Johanna demanded.

Katniss turned away from the loveseat where Haydar and Peeta were talking – a conversation that appeared too long for Katniss's comfort. Haydar was sitting in what Katniss liked to think of as his Lecture Pose. She really hoped he wasn't scaring Peeta out of his wits.

"It was bound to happen, you know," Johanna said, as if reading her mind. She tore off a strip of tandoori chicken from a leg with her teeth. "You were spending so much time with him tonight."

"It's nothing like that. We were just talking." Katniss stared at her own plate – the untouched mound of Hyderabadi dum biryani with its fragrant mix of different coloured rice and boneless lamb chunks, and _Rooba Catering_'s special palak-paneer.

"Talking while you were sitting on his lap. Come on, Kat _yaar_, even _you_ are not this dense."

"You're responsible for that!" Katniss exclaimed. "You made them unceremoniously dump me into his lap!"

"Yeah, but that would have been just for a minute or two, _max_. That you actually _stayed_ in his lap...heck, the way you and pretty boy have been acting all evening – do you know how many people have been talking about you? Glimmer Khanna's stupid mother kept asking Effie if you guys were planning to keep both brothers in the family. If Haydar wasn't giving Peeta the third degree right now, I would be doing the job."

"Does _everything _have to be about marriage to you all?" Katniss did not realize how loudly she was talking until she noticed other people staring at her. She lowered her voice. "Can I not talk with someone now without being judged?"

Johanna raised her sticky, rice-covered fingers and gulped a mouthful of water from a glass. "Hey. Don't shoot the messenger. We Goans are not as rigid as you Punjabis about these things. I'm just telling you exactly how things stand now."

A clatter of plates on the long dining table drew Katniss's attention. The two other men from the groom's party sat across from them. One of them was tall and green-eyed with copper coloured hair, while the other was short, lanky, and red-headed, with freckles scattered all over his grinning face.

"Hey guys," Johanna greeted cheerfully. "Katniss, this is Finnick," she pointed out the guy with the green eyes, "and this is Darius. They're both close friends of the groom and his brother."

"Enchante." Finnick held out a hand to Katniss, flashing the sort of smile that had every other girl in the vicinity drooling. "I'd been waiting for an introduction to the bride's gorgeous sister."

The obvious seduction in his voice made Katniss uncomfortable. She nodded politely and held up her hands, pressed together in a _namaste_. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Finnick."

Finnick raised his eyebrows, but the man next to him - Darius - burst out laughing.

"_Told_ you she wouldn't fall for it." Johanna snorted and rolled her eyes at the green-eyed man. "You should try that line out on our pretty, glimmery Pinky. _Mister Finnick_, indeed. Well done, Kat. I've never heard a better diss in my life!"

Finnick, to his credit, gave them a good-natured shrug. "You win some, you lose some," he told Katniss with a wink.

"And looks like Katniss has already been won over by our little Peeta, hasn't she?" Darius commented, his brown eyes sparkling.

Katniss flushed. Being around these three was like being with three Johannas all at once. She wasn't sure if she would survive from all the teasing.

"We're just friends," she said through gritted teeth. "I barely know him." _Except that he's warm and kind and funny and has nice arms and golden hair and those beautiful blue eyes…oh those eyes..._

"Speaking of the devil, here he is now," Johanna said. "Hello there, Lover Boy. Got yourself some _shudh desi khana_?"

"Hello Johanna." Peeta said politely, his hands loaded with plates of food. He nodded at Finnick and Darius. "Hey guys. Mind if I join you?"

Automatically, Katniss shifted on the bench where she and Johanna were sitting, making room for another person. She scowled at the identical Cheshire cat grins on Johanna, Finnick and Darius's faces.

Peeta's grateful smile made her feel a little better. He sat down next to her. "Your uncle Haydar is really something. I was afraid he was going to have me arrested for talking to you."

"Well, what do you expect?" Johanna asked him before Katniss could respond. "The hijras may have given you both their blessing, my handsome friend, but if you have any _intentions_ towards little Katniss over here, you need Haydar and Effie's permission first. You know how the saying goes: 'When you marry an Indian girl, you marry her entire family.'"

"Johanna, stop," Katniss said sharply. "Just quit it with the marriage talk, okay?"

Johanna's face lost its sneer and she looked somewhat chagrined. Silence fell over the table. Finnick coughed lightly. "I think I need to go to the bathroom."

Katniss stared at the table. Great. Now they all probably thought she was a jerk who couldn't take a joke.

She felt Johanna squeeze her hand. "I'm gonna show Darius around a bit okay? Sorry Kat, _yaar_. I didn't mean to upset you. We'll talk later, okay?"

Without looking at her, Katniss nodded. Johanna didn't mean her any harm, but this time it had just been a little too much.

Once Johanna and Darius had left the table, she let out a deep sigh. "You don't need to stay," she said miserably, directing her comment at her only remaining companion. "I know I was being a bitch."

"What? No! Katniss…hey, Katniss…look at me, will you?" A warm hand cupped her cheek, gently turning her face until she was looking into his sincere blue eyes. "You weren't being a bitch," Peeta frowned, his mouth firming into a thin line. "There's a limit to teasing, remember? Sometimes lines get crossed and it's okay to tell people if they're doing that. A joke is supposed to make everyone laugh - even the person who's being made the butt of it."

Katniss shook her head. "It's not just what Johanna was saying. It's …all these people." She waved a hand around to the mass of wedding guests laughing, chattering and eating. "Everyone keeps watching me and having all these expectations of how I'm supposed to behave, what I'm supposed to do. Whether I'm a _good_ girl or a bad one for talking to a boy. I just…I hate being watched like this. It's my life, not fodder for someone else's gossip."

Peeta nodded. "I get it. I really do." His hand slid away from her cheek. Katniss cursed the loss of its warmth. "After my accident, people didn't know how to act around me. I mean I don't necessarily blame them; I was a real jerk back then – really, really angry – always snapping at everyone and everything. Lucas once told me that it was like someone had hijacked my personality. But everyone kept treating me like an invalid. Like I would drop dead at any moment. Fuck, I'd lost a leg, not my whole life! But that's what it felt like.

"Finn, Darius and Luke were the only people who treated me like a normal person, you know? So I get it, Katniss. I understand what it feels like to have people watching you all the time, always waiting for the other shoe to drop or, in my case, for my leg to give out under me."

Katniss shook her head. "I don't think that's why they watch you." _It's mostly because you're so good looking, _she thought. She cleared her throat in an effort to hide the heat creeping up her face – something that was becoming more and more common when Peeta was around. "But the truth is, I couldn't even tell you had a prosthetic. The only time I knew was when…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered his warm hands on her waist and thigh, the feel of his harness poking into her. The colour of Peeta's eyes darkened significantly.

Katniss felt her breath catch in his throat. She was relieved when he broke the spell by waggling his eyebrows.

"I know," he joked. "I can be pretty distracting sometimes."

Katniss laughed. "Sure. Really distracting."

There was a pause before he asked his next question.

"Katniss…" he bit his lip. "Do you want me to stop talking to you? I mean – it's not that I _want_ to; I swear there's nothing _more_ I want than to spend time with you – but people won't stop talking, you know. I can tell you're a private person and if me being around you is making you uncomfortable then I'll do it. I'll keep my distance."

Katniss remained silent for a long moment, contemplating the offer he gave her. He was right. People would talk. In the long run, it would probably be the best to distance herself from him. Apart from the confessions about their exes, they barely even knew each other. She could politely leave Peeta to finish his meal and mingle with other guests, maybe even make awkward conversation with some of the other single men Effie bua had hinted towards in the past as Good Prospective Matches. Peeta would have no shortage of "translators" available, based on the looks Glimmer Khanna and her friends kept giving him. Katniss did not understand why the very thought of this made her sick to her stomach.

She took a deep breath before answering. "No." Something clicked inside her chest as she spoke the word – an inexplicable sense of rightness. "I don't want you to stop talking to me."

She felt her lips curve into a shy smile.

The answering smile on Peeta's face could have lit up the entire room.

**Little notes of interest:**

**Ardent Bollywood fans may note that Katniss's father and mother (Baldev and Lajjo) have been named after Simran's parents from the movie ****_Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge_**** (My own little tribute to one of Bollywood's biggest romantic hits.)**

** Of course, in this chapter, Haydar (Haymitch) is the one channelling the gruff, overprotective Hindi film father :)**

**English translations to the Hindi phrases in the chapter:**

**_Bidaai _****– Bridal farewell ceremony (to take place in the next chapter)**

**_Shudh desi khana_**** – Pure Indian food**

**_Yaar_**** – Friend (though this word can be used in a different context depending on the situation.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

**The Bridal Farewell – Part 2**

"_Haila!_ Minus thirty sounds terribly cold!" The girl was trying – a tad too desperately – to capture Peeta's attention.

"It's okay," he said, shrugging. "It's not as bad as Montreal or Ottawa. Definitely not as bad as Calgary or Winnipeg."

"Really," the girl – _what was her name? Glitter? Glimmer? _– was nodding, all wide-eyed, as if discussing Canadian winters was the most fascinating thing in the world.

Peeta could feel his pasted-on smile slipping. After dinner, Katniss had been pulled away by her aunt Effie for something to do with the Bidaai ceremony – "The rice! The rice, Katniss! How on earth can we have two big vats of biryani, but no rice to throw at the bride and groom?" Effie was crying out in a panic. Moments after Katniss left, Glitter-Glimmer slid into the seat Katniss had vacated, her long pink nails delicately digging into his arm.

He had been polite, initially, figuring a minute or two of conversation would appease the girl. He'd kept an eye out for Johanna, Finnick and Darius – mostly Katniss – but neither of them could be seen. So now, he was stuck in vapid conversation with a girl, who was two steps away from draping herself around him like an unwanted sari.

Peeta was just about to make an excuse about using the lavatory (he had the feeling this girl would probably even follow him there), when a small, firm hand wrapped itself around his arm.

"There you are," Katniss whispered, the sandalwood and lavender scent of her hair allowing him to identify her before her voice reached his ears. "I'd been looking all over for you."

She gently stroked his arm with her thumb, sending warm tendrils of heat to his centre. Peeta gulped and squirmed in his seat.

Katniss's grey eyes, softer and warmer than he'd ever seen them, flashed suddenly at the woman sitting next to him.

"Hello Priyanka. That's a nice shade on you."

"Uff, Katniss! How many times must I tell you_ ke _Priyanka_ mat kaho na_! You sound like my father!" The other woman responded with a petulant toss of her hair. "And Peeta here and I were in the middle of an important –"

"Actually I was waiting for you, Katniss," Peeta interrupted, delicately removing Glitter-Glimmer's hand from his arm. He rose from his seat and gave her a polite nod. "It was nice meeting you…uh…" The woman's eyes narrowed venomously when she seemed to realize that he'd forgotten whatever name she'd given him. "I hope you have a good time at the wedding."

He tucked Katniss's hand into the crook of his elbow and they both walked away from the dining area to where the DJ had set up his equipment.

"Thank you," Peeta whispered. He caught hold of Katniss's hands. "Thank you, thank you! I thought she wasn't going to leave me alone!"

"Well someone had to protect you from all the minus-thirty, minus-forty talk. You looked like you were dying out there!" Katniss's beautiful eyes were twinkling with mirth.

"So you're my protector, I take it? Are you sure you weren't just staking your claim?" he teased.

She raised her eyebrows. "What if I told you I was? Staking my claim that is."

He stared at her, his heart racing. _Was she serious? No she couldn't be serious, could she?_

Katniss laughed. "I'm kidding, Peeta."

_Dammit._ Peeta felt himself deflate slightly, but he shrugged. "So now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?"

"Put you somewhere out of the reach of bleached blondes wearing white see-through saris and blue contact lenses, I guess."

Katniss laughed and bit her lip.

Without really thinking about it, Peeta brushed a thumb over her soft mouth, freeing it from captivity. He felt her hot breath wash over his fingers and wondered what it would feel like to place his own mouth over hers, to taste the gentle curve of her lower lip with his tongue. He found himself moving closer and closer, until a chorus of laughs somewhere behind them had Katniss jerking back out of his reach with a gasp.

Peeta shook his head and cursed himself. He needed to stop getting carried away around her – especially after that talk he just had with Haydar or he was going to get shot. Unless, of course, Katniss got freaked out and refused to talk to him again. Peeta wasn't sure what outcome would be worse.

Thankfully no one seemed to be looking at them at the moment. The only other person in the vicinity – a skinny brown kid with gelled hair, was sitting in the DJ's chair, playing some sort of game on his phone.

And Katniss, for some reason, hadn't run away yet. He gave Katniss her an apologetic smile before moving the conversation to safer topics.

"So did you and Effie find the rice?"

Katniss nodded, looking anywhere and everywhere, but at him. "Yeah. We'd asked the kitchen staff to put out some raw grains in a few bowls, but they'd just forgotten to do it. Effie bua just gets panic attacks over the smallest things. Everything _has_ to run perfectly and on schedule. I swear there are moments when I think that _she_ should have been the army general, not Haydar."

Peeta laughed, watching Katniss's aunt bustle from one corner of the hall to another, a big smile plastered over her round face, the silver butterflies pinned to her hair bouncing with every move. "Welcome! Welcome!" he could hear her gushing to a pair of late arrivals. "So nice to see you!"

Talking about Effie had been the right way to go because soon enough Katniss was looking him in the eye again and telling him about the _Bidaai_ or the ceremony where everyone would pay their farewells to the bride and groom (who, in this case, would be packed into a limo and set off to spend a night in a suite booked at the Tajmahal Hotel).

"As they drive away, people throw rice or some form of grain," Katniss explained. "As a symbol of prosperity and fertility." She looked a little sad. "Mostly it just a reminder that it will be a daughter's final few moments with her family."

"It's not a bad thing, though, is it?" Peeta asked.

"No, not at all. It's just…it just finally hits home that she's all grown up," Katniss said. And Peeta guessed he understood. Somewhat. He and Lucas were close, but they didn't have the kind of relationship Katniss had with Prim.

"So this place Prim and Lucas are heading off to for their honeymoon – Kerala," Peeta pronounced the word carefully. A hint of a smirk on Katniss's face told him he didn't get it quite right. "It's supposed to be really beautiful isn't it?"

"It's gorgeous. Lush green hills, beautiful beaches, houseboats over the backwaters – they call it God's Own Country." Katniss laughed self-deprecatingly. "God, I sound like a tourist brochure, when I haven't even been there."

"You haven't? Not even for a family trip?"

Katniss shook her head. "Between school and college and work, there was barely any time. Honestly, I've not even seen all of Mumbai – and I grew up here!"

"No! Don't tell me that!" Peeta protested. "Who's gonna show me around the city then?"

Katniss looked surprised. "You're going to be here tomorrow? I thought you guys were leaving."

"My Dad's leaving – he has to get back to the bakery. But I'm going to stay a few more days – actually see a bit of India. I don't think I'm over my jet lag yet."

It was only a half-truth. While it was true that Peeta's father was planning to head back to Canada tomorrow evening, Finnick and Darius had talking about hanging around for a few more days, maybe drive to Goa, where there were plenty of beaches and girls.

But the only girl Peeta wanted was right here in front of him. And there were beaches aplenty in Mumbai from what Prim had been telling him. His friends would understand.

"I was hoping you could show me around," he told Katniss and then sighed. "But since you don't really know the place, I guess I'll be forced to ask Whatshername – Glitter? Glimmer?"

Katniss's eyes glinted. "Oh really."

"Yeah. I'll just have to spend day after day listening to her syrupy voice and creepy come-ons." Peeta pretended to shudder. "I'll be totally defenseless!"

"Oh I certainly can't allow that to happen." Katniss's mouth twitched. "Be ready at 11 am tomorrow, Mr. Mellark. We'll have a lot of ground to cover."

**kpkpkp**

Katniss hated goodbyes. The first time she'd dropped Prim off at the airport to send her to Canada for college, she'd kept a stoic face throughout the car ride, all the way up to the check-in point, even teasing her sister about crying so much. "What is it, _Chutki_?" she had said, wiping away the tears from Primada's cheeks. "You will be back again in three months, remember?"

It had not been until Haydar, Effie and Katniss were back in the car that the sniffles started from the backseat. Katniss, her nose red, rubbing angrily at her eyes. "I'm not crying. I'm _not_ crying, okay?"

Now, at her sister's wedding, she once again felt that familiar mix of happiness and unease that Big Life Changes always seemed to bring in their wake, as the clock struck twelve and cheers and cat calls rose throughout the hall. It was time for the newlyweds to depart.

The musicians from the _baaraat_ returned, beating the large _dholaks_ strapped to their chests.

Prim and Lucas made their way down the carpet, waving at everyone, and finally pausing at the exit, where Lajjo, Haydar, Effie and Katniss waited.

A few feet away, Peeta stood next to his father and friends, laughing at something Finnick was saying. But from time to time, he would catch Katniss's eye and give her a concerned look. _Are you okay?_ He seemed to be asking her with his eyes. Katniss blinked and nodded. _Yes. _

She would be okay. Eventually.

Lucas paid his farewells to Lajjo, Effie and Haydar first, allowing Prim more time with her family.

Prim wrapped herself around her mother and the two women quietly exchanged a soft words and farewells. Prim smiled at Lajjo, but was unable to disguise the sadness in her eyes.

The crying did not officially begin until Prim flung herself at Effie bua, nearly ruining their aunt's carefully set bouffant. But, for the first time, Effie did not seem to care. "_Meri gudiya_." Effie's nose twitched. "Don't, my child. Today is supposed to be a happy day."

Haydar was next, forgoing all gruffness as he lifted Prim's tiny red sari-clad figure off her feet. "If anything goes wrong, you call Uncle Haydar first, okay?"

While Haydar talked to Prim and murmured reassurances into her ear, Katniss found herself face to face with her brother-in-law, who nervously pressed a finger to the glasses that seemed to be slipping off his nose.

"You'll forgive her, right? If she makes mistakes?" Katniss blurted out, wincing after she asked the question. Since when did _she_ become the melodramatic Hindi film mother? Wasn't that Effie bua's job?

But Lucas wasn't laughing. Unlike Peeta, who seemed to have a perpetual smile on his face, Lucas was serious and did not smile all that often. A little bit like Katniss herself, Prim had teased her sister. So when he looked at Katniss with gentle concern and took her hands into his larger ones, Katniss could tell that he seemed to understand. "I hope she will forgive my mistakes as well," he said. "For I will surely make as many – if not more."

Katniss smiled. Tears slid down her face. She really couldn't help worrying for Prim – or growing emotional at a time like this. But somehow she had the feeling that Prim's new husband wouldn't resent her for it, nor grow exasperated at the bear hug and sobs Prim enveloped Katniss in.

"I will miss you! I will miss you so much!"

"Stop it, silly duck; you're making me cry as well!"

But this only made Prim's crying worsen. Seeing Lucas grow worried about his bride, Katniss wiped away her tears.

"Hey, Prim, did you ever tell Lucas about the song Papa used to sing at weddings?" Katniss turned to Lucas. "It wasn't a bridal song – not even a wedding song, really – but a song about love. A man sings it for his wife. They have been married for many years, but when he sings, he tells her that she is still beautiful and that he still feels young when he is with her."

Katniss could hear the voices around her grow softer, almost as if the others were listening into their conversation. But right now, Katniss had eyes for no one except the newlyweds.

"I only hope that you and Prim will be like that couple and have many wonderful years together. And that your love will always remain that strong."

And without another word, Katniss softly began to sing:

_Aye meri Zohra jabeen_

_Tujhe maloom nahin_

_Tu abhi tak hai haseen, aur main jawan_

_Tujhpe qurbaan meri jaan, meri jaan…_

Chatter around them softened to whispers and then utter silence as Katniss's clear, lilting voice rose into the air. The musicians caught on, accompanying her with drumbeats.

It wasn't perfect. Katniss knew that she'd missed a beat in one section, her delivery of the _antara_ was pitchy in spots – she hadn't sung in such a long time that the high notes and _aalaaps_ strained her vocal cords. But Katniss did not care. She allowed the lyrics and the music to envelop her. After Papa had died, the very act of singing had caused Katniss immense pain. The pain, though still there today, steadied her, leaving behind a sweet ache in her chest. When Katniss closed her eyes, she could sense her father's presence once more, could almost feel his larger hand slipping into her smaller one.

Katniss tightened her grip until she realized that the hand she was holding was much smaller than Papa's - a cool, soft, decidedly feminine hand.

She opened her eyes to find Lajjo Singhania, crying through her tears. Once the song ended, her mother pulled Katniss into her arms.

"Thank you," she said in a hoarse voice. "Thank you for bringing him back to me."

After Lajjo let go of Katniss, Prim pulled her sister in for one last hug.

"You can find it too, you know," Prim whispered in Katniss's ear. "Love. Maybe with a certain blue-eyed someone you met today."

"Primada!"

"I know what you you're thinking Katniss, but give it a chance. Give him a chance."

"We are just friends."

"And you know what they say about love and friendship."

Prim then went on to whisper a few final words that would remain with Katniss long after her sister stepped into the limo with her new husband and sped away into a new life: "_Pyaar dosti hai_, Katniss. If it comes knocking at your door, don't shut it out. Let it in. Let it set you ablaze."

**kpkpkp**

The morning after the wedding, Katniss woke up to the scent of chocolate wafting in from the kitchen, all the way up to her bedroom on the second floor of Haydar's bungalow.

Wondering if that new servant boy Effie bua hired had some talent at making chocolate cakes, she made her way downstairs after wrapping a shawl around her pajamas and slipping her feet into her rubber chappals.

She was surprised to find Peeta at the counter, his blond hair mussed from sleep, the tip of his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he carefully piped a flower – seemingly out of thin air – on what appeared to be the second of a dozen chocolate cupcakes cooling on a rack.

Katniss allowed herself a couple of moment to observe him: the tiny patch of flour dusting his nose, the barely-there cleft on his chin, his long eyelashes, the way the muscles in his arms bulged as he moved, the fine blond hair dusting his forearms. He was wearing a thin white shirt and striped blue pajama bottoms.

Unwittingly, she pressed her thighs together.

She must have made some sound, however, because Peeta abruptly paused in his work and looked up. "Jesus, Katniss. You scared me. Are you always this quiet?"

Katniss shrugged, hoping the heat in her cheeks was masked in the dim, early morning light and her dark complexion.

"Hunting with Uncle Haydar. Archery classes also train you to be quiet. I didn't know Effie bua gave you free reign of her kitchen."

"I asked her last night." Peeta went back to piping the flower. "She said as long as she got something sweet out of the deal, I was welcome to use it. Besides, I'd promised a little girl I'd get her a cake as well."

"A little girl?"

"Pri-something? About four or five years old with two braids."

"Priyasi?" Katniss was surprised. "But why?"

"I told her to show me where your room was." Peeta put aside the cupcake and grinned. "The cake was her prize."

"Haha." Katniss scowled at him. "I better get a cake out of it, too." She sat down and examined the cake – what she thought was a flower, but really was a tiny bouquet of flowers. A posy of some sort.

"This is exquisite," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah." She looked up from the cake to see him staring at her with an intense look on his face. "It's the most beautiful cupcake I've seen."

"I do the cakes," he admitted. "At the bakery back home. Luke hated the decorating part and Dad always said I did a better job than he did."

He went over to the rack where the cakes were cooling and carefully withdrew the other cake he had iced. This one had another flower on it. Three round white petals carefully shaped out of fondant and painted purple in the centre.

A katniss flower.

Peeta held it out to her. "You did want a cake, too, right?"

Katniss stared at him long enough for a blush to colour his cheekbones. _Why again was this guy still single?_

Peeta raised an eyebrow. "I guess referring to me in the third person means you didn't mean to say that out loud."

Katniss cringed. _Not again._ Gingerly, being careful not to touch his fingers, she took the cake from his hands.

"It's almost too pretty to eat," she said.

"Almost?"

Katniss plucked a flower petal and popped it into her mouth. "Almost," she said smiling.

A sound at the kitchen door made them both look up. Raju, the new boy Effie had hired cleared his throat.

"Sorry, _Memsaab_, but there is someone here to see you."

Katniss frowned and glanced at the clock which had just struck 7 am. "This early?"

Her aunt and uncle's friends knew enough to not come calling before ten in the morning – Effie, before her fourth cup of morning chai could be an absolute nightmare to be around.

"He said he was your friend."

"Did this _friend_ give a name?" Katniss asked impatiently. Good God, did the boy have no common sense? "Did you actually let him into the house? For all you know he could be a thief or a murderer!"

"He's in the living room." The boy stammered, looking terrified now.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Peeta asked.

Katniss shook her head. "Don't worry. It's probably just a pushy insurance agent or something. I'll handle it. I was just scaring him."

Before Peeta could protest, Katniss marched out into the living room, Raju in tow.

A tall man was sitting on the cream-coloured sofa, his dark head bent.

Katniss froze a few feet away. _It couldn't be._

As if sensing her appearance, the man looked up. His hair was a little shorter than what it used to be, but his face was still the same – straight nose, light brown eyes, square jaw, and a smile that when, even hesitant, bordered on a smirk.

"Hello, Kavi," he said, rising to his feet.

**XXXXXXXX**

**English translations to Hindi words/phrases**

**How many times must I tell you_ ke _Priyanka_ mat kaho na_! = How many times must I tell you not to call me Priyanka!**

**_Baaraat _****= Wedding Procession**

**_Dholak_**** = a big cylindrical drum**

**_Chutki_**** = Little One (female)**

**_Meri gudiya_ = My doll**

**_Antara_**** = The second verse in a song**

**_Memsaab_**** = Miss/Madam**

**_Pyaar dosti hai_** **= Love is friendship. (This dialogue has been unapologetically lifted from director Karan Johar's superhit college movie ****_Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, _****starring Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukherji****_._****) **

**And, yes, Galjeet (Gale) has returned. What does he want? You'll find out in the next chapter. **


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

**Galjeet's Story**

_"Hello Kavi."_

The quiet formality of Galjeet's tone, mixed with the nickname he'd once lovingly bestowed upon her, broke Katniss out of her stupor.

"My name is Katniss," she said curtly. "Why are you here and what the fuck do you want?"

Galjeet looked startled. Perhaps the sound of the swear word leaving Katniss's mouth had surprised him.

"Well, some things still are the same, I guess," Galjeet said after a pause. He still had the uncanny ability to read her facial expressions. "You're still a fireball."

She crossed her arms. "You have exactly ten seconds to get to the point or I'm going to personally kick you out of the house."

Galjeet raked a hand over his hair. He glanced over at the servant boy who was still hovering timidly behind Katniss. "Can we talk in private? I – I'm not expecting anything, but I think we need to talk. I guess I should have said these things five years ago, but I really…Katniss, please let me explain myself. Just give me five minutes of your time. If you still don't want to listen, I promise I will leave without any argument."

Katniss didn't really want to listen to him, but the vulnerability on his face gave her pause. It reminded her of an earlier time – of days spent climbing trees to steal the neighbour's mangoes; of arm-wrestling matches at Hob's Dhaba; of a time they'd both screamed themselves hoarse in this very living room when Sachin Tendulkar scored another century for India. A friendship that had been beautiful in its very simplicity.

She turned to Raju and nodded. "If I call for you, go and wake Haydar uncle immediately. Understand?"

"Y-yes, memsaab!"

Once the boy scarpered, Katniss and Galjeet sat down, facing each other – Galjeet on the sofa and Katniss on a hard-backed armchair.

"Speak," she said.

Galjeet took a deep breath. "I don't know how to explain this properly so maybe I should start from the beginning."

Katniss rolled her eyes. This was definitely going to take longer than five minutes.

"As you know that Malini and I were never on the best of terms six years ago," Galjeet began. "I thought she was this hi-fi minister's daughter…you must remember how we fought all the time."

Katniss did.

When Katniss was in college, Galjeet had done nothing except rant about people like Malini, whose politician father had donated several lakhs to help build a new library for the students. In return, Malini had been admitted, without question - despite her less than stellar entrance exam score - into the college's highly competitive medical program.

"People like Malini? They're not like you and me, Kavi!" Galjeet would say back then. "They don't have to put their noses to the grindstone to get a nearly perfect score in a college entrance exam or worry about getting a job after they graduate. Hell, they don't even know what means to be middle-class in India!"

Pre-Galjeet and the wedding saga, Katniss had liked Malini. They would often have lunch together on campus, sitting quietly on a set of steps at the back of the FY-Calculus lecture hall. Malini wasn't much of a talker, but she didn't seem to mind eating with Katniss, sometimes even offering to share the contents of her tiffin with the other girl.

Galjeet had never attempted to hide his disdain for Malini – _What happened? Did Baby-ji break a nail? Did Baby-ji's driver fall sick? _Hai Ram_, did Baby-ji actually have to _study_ to pass the test like normal people?_

"Things changed," Galjeet said now. "She blew up at me one day and told me to go fuck myself. I guess I was surprised. She had never really answered back before – always kept giving me condescending looks. I figured what I said never really affected her. One thing led to another and we began talking."

Katniss shook her head. "I guess I should have known something was up when you two started being civil to each other," she muttered.

"It wasn't like that," he pleaded. "I was trying to be nice at first – she was _your_ friend, Katniss! I wanted to at least be able to have a civil conversation with her. But then, we just got closer, I guess. I began falling for her…and we ended up sleeping together a week before the wedding," Galjeet finished miserably.

A nerve in Katniss's forehead began to pulse.

"You slept with her…" Her stomach was churning now. "And you were still going to marry _me_?"

"I told her at first it was a mistake. That we had to forget all about it. You were my best friend, Katniss – I'd been with you for so long, I'd forgotten what it was like to be with another girl and – "

"So was that the problem?" Katniss interrupted. "The fact that I wanted to wait to have sex until we got married?" She should have known. _Stupid, stupid Katniss._ Just when she thought that the scar Galjeet had left on her heart was healing, he was going to go right ahead and give her a new one.

"NO!" Galjeet whose mouth had fallen open at the first question now looked furious. "Do you think I'm _that_ kind of guy? I may have my faults, Katniss, but I never had issues with you wanting to wait until the wedding night. I'm not going to say I was a fan of it, but I understood. I was never going to force my girlfriend into taking a step she wasn't comfortable with!"

He buried his face in his palms. When he looked up again, Galjeet's voice grew considerably softer. "The night before the wedding, I panicked. There was this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was doing something wrong. Really wrong. I couldn't even pinpoint what it was. I just hopped into my car and took off. Drove all the way to the Gujarat state border and crashed at a motel there.

"The next afternoon, I was at this café at Charoti when I realized that I was missing the wedding. My own wedding." Gale let forth a bitter laugh. "I had time. I could've made the four hour drive back to Mumbai. But I didn't. Just the thought of it had me seize up and break out into a sweat. I don't have any excuses, Katniss. I was a coward, plain and simple. Back then, I was so messed up, I couldn't even face up to the fact that I was in love with Malini and not with you."

Katniss closed her eyes for a second, her head spinning from all the information he'd thrown her way.

"You could have answered my texts, my calls, my emails," she said in a low voice. "You could have _talked_ to me! Dammit Galjeet, you were my _friend_! I would have never come between you and Malini if that's what you both wanted. I had to find out from one of Effie bua's gossipy friends that you were getting married to her! And even then…It's been five years, Galjeet. Five fucking years and you never bothered to reach out!"

Katniss didn't realize she was crying until she felt Galjeet wipe a tear off her cheek. She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!"

Galjeet's hand fell back to his side. He stepped back. "I deserve that. I deserve every bit of your anger and condemnation. I didn't mean to let things go on for so long. After I bailed on our wedding, my mother nearly disowned me. Malini was so hurt that for a long time she didn't even want to look at me. I was lucky that she took me back." His light brown eyes looked sad. "As I said, I don't really have an excuse."

Silence settled over them for a long moment – the kind of quiet that followed a storm that had worn itself out.

"So…" Katniss began. "What made you decide to come here today?"

"A video." Galjeet smiled faintly. "I think it was at Prim's mehendi ceremony. One of the wedding guests put it on YouTube. You were wearing a red dress and dancing. You looked happy. I'd never seen you smile like that, even when we were together. It reminded me of how good it was between us when we were just friends. I figured I'd take my chance and talk to you now or I never would."

There was a long pause. "YouTube," Katniss finally managed to say. "That god forsaken video is on _YouTube_?"

Galjeet laughed. "I shouldn't be surprised that _that's_ what registered with you after my heartfelt confession. You were never one for the public eye, Kavi – I mean Katniss."

Katniss shrugged. She didn't care what he called her now. Somehow during their conversation, the anger she'd carried with her for the past five years had petered out, leaving behind a hollow ache.

"So is there someone special in your life now?" Galjeet ventured.

_Blond hair. Laughing blue eyes. A smile that gave her butterflies. _

"I don't think you can ask me such questions anymore," Katniss said. "What I do in my life is my business."

For a second, Katniss saw a flash of the old Galjeet. The one who would lose his temper if Katniss did not let him in on a secret or a girly joke. But, just as quickly, it was gone. The Galjeet who looked at her now was not the Jeet she knew. He'd grown up. Perhaps even grown better for it.

"Katniss, do you think we can be friends again? Someday?"

The hopeful look on his face dimmed when Katniss did not reply immediately. She sighed and shook her head. "Galjeet, what's done is done. I'm not going to lie and say you didn't hurt me, because you did. You hurt me; you hurt my family. You pretty much shattered every bit of self-esteem I had back then. Even if I can at some point forgive you for what you did, we can't go back to being the way we were." Katniss felt exhaustion creep up her bones. "We can't be Jeet and Kavi again."

Galjeet's shoulders slumped with defeat. "I guess I had to try that. Just once."

Katniss nodded, feeling a twinge of pity for his worn down version of a man she'd always considered confident and boisterous. Maybe she couldn't be his best friend anymore, she decided, but she could still try being civil. "Do you remember how we would climb trees in Haydar uncle's garden to rescue Prim's cat?"

This time the smile Galjeet gave her was a lot more genuine. "That cat was the bane of my existence until it died."

"And mine," Katniss reminded him. "I always think of how many times I came so close to drowning it in the _dhobi_'s washtub."

"Prim would have never forgiven you."

"The things you do for sisters," Katniss mused. "Speaking of which, are you going to Hiroo Aunty's later today?"

"Yeah, probably. Mom usually takes the kids when Malini goes for work."

Katniss nodded. "Well, I have something for Priyasi. A friend promised her a cake. Can you take it to her?"

Galjeet looked surprised and a little pleased. "Sure. Anything for you, Katniss."

"Just wait here. I'll be right back."

In the kitchen, Peeta was piping the last cupcake. Katniss marveled at the unique, intricate designs he'd left on each confection – a primrose for Primada, a pair of shoes with pointed toes for Lucas, a pair of butterflies for Effie, a whiskey bottle for Haydar.

Katniss smiled. "This is amazing, Peeta."

He paused for a brief second and continued piping. "I covered up your cake for you so it wouldn't get spoiled."

She frowned, wondering at the flat tone of his normally upbeat voice. "I'm actually here for Priyasi's cake. Gal – her brother's waiting in the living room outside."

Peeta put the piping bag aside and finally looked up at Katniss. "I know. I…" he rubbed his nose, leaving a streak of pink icing along the skin. "I sort of followed you and Raju, in case there was some trouble. Don't worry, I didn't eavesdrop or anything. I left the moment I heard you and...you guys start talking."

Katniss stared at him for a moment. She quietly pulled out a plastic box from a cabinet and put Priyasi's cake in it. Then, on an impulse, she held out a hand. "Come."

Peeta looked up, startled. "What?"

"_Chalo!_" Katniss slipped into Hindi the way she normally did when she got impatient. "You're the one who made the cake. He should thank you in person for it."

Peeta said nothing, but his eyes were filled with questions. _What do you mean by this?_ they seemed to be asking.

Katniss was grateful he didn't ask her the question out loud because she sure as hell didn't know the answer. She tried not to think about how natural it felt for Peeta's fingers to link through hers, how steady his presence made her feel. She gently tugged him to the living room, where Galjeet was now studying a row of family pictures on the wall.

Her old friend turned around when he heard them approach, raising his brows when he saw Peeta with Katniss. From the scowl on Galjeet's face, Katniss knew that the other man had not missed Katniss and Peeta's joined hands.

"Galjeet, this is Peeta. Prim married his brother, Lucas, yesterday. He's the one who made Priyasi her cake." She held out the box in her other hand.

"Hello." Peeta greeted Galjeet warmly. "It's nice to meet you."

"_So the English went away and left him behind, huh?_" Galjeet asked Katniss in Hindi, the sarcasm in his voice unmistakable. Katniss frowned, though she wasn't really surprised. Galjeet liked to flaunt his convent education by speaking in English - until he met a Westerner. That was when Galjeet became the consummate _desh-bhakt_ – a man more patriotic than any Manoj Kumar movie. Now Katniss herself was as patriotic as any other Indian: she loved her country and it's traditions; her heart bled saffron, white and green during every cricket match; she even grew a little emotional every time AR Rahman's version of _Vande Mataram_ played on TV. But Katniss no longer cared about what had happened between the Indians and the British over half a century ago. She had never felt comfortable with the brand of venom Galjeet and a few of his friends always seemed to harbour against the West and white people in general.

"_He's not British, he's Canadian_," Katniss replied coldly. "_And even if he was, I didn't realize it would be a problem. It's 2009, Galjeet, not 1947._"

"_Oh, Ka-nay-da._" Galjeet sneered, completely ignoring everything else that she said. "_How nice._"

Peeta cleared his throat. "Sorry for interrupting, but I'd like to know what you guys are talking about if I'm the topic of conversation."

Katniss felt her cheeks heat up with anger. Galjeet was such a jerk. Then again, it had always been like this between the two of them. He instigated, she reacted. Had they married, they would have probably fought like cats and dogs, she realized.

"I'm sorry," she turned her attention to Peeta instead. "I didn't mean to exclude you."

To her surprise, Peeta did not look angry, only amused. He squeezed Katniss's hand reassuringly and subtly pulled her closer before flashing Galjeet a dazzling smile.

"Please tell Priyasi that the gora uncle says thank you. I hope she'll enjoy her cake."

Galjeet, to his credit, now looked slightly ashamed. "Thank you. I'm sure she will."

"She's a lovely girl. You're lucky she's in your life," Peeta's voice was kind, but Katniss sensed an underlying hint of steel under the softness.

Galjeet seemed to sense it too. A tic went off in his left cheek as his hard gaze moved between Peeta and Katniss to their tightly clasped hands.

"You'd better go now, Galjeet," Katniss said finally. "Haydar Uncle won't be too happy if he sees you here right now."

"Right," Galjeet said brusquely. "Goodbye, then." He gave Peeta a curt nod.

After the front door slammed shut behind her former friend, Peeta turned back to Katniss. "Do I have anything to apologize for?" he asked.

"What? Why?" Katniss asked, baffled.

"Well I was sort of rude to him at the end."

"_You _were rude?" Katniss laughed. "Peeta, he was the one who was trying to insult you in another language when you were right in front of him. If anything, Galjeet should have been the one apologizing."

The worry in Peeta's eyes lessened, but he still looked at her cautiously. "I didn't mean to come between –"

"There was nothing to come in between of." Katniss said emphatically. "Besides, I was the one who brought you here, remember."

Peeta's thumb gently traced a vein in the back of her palm, nearly scattering her thoughts. "Yeah, but I was the one who didn't exactly let go."

The silence that followed his statement felt electric – all too loaded with emotions Katniss was not yet ready to give name to.

"Well," Katniss said, after a pause. "I'm glad you didn't."

And she realized it was true.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Well. This chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I expected, but Galjeet had quite a bit to say. **

**The "Hiroo Aunty" Katniss refers to is Hazelle.**

**English translations to Hindi phrases/words:**

**Dhaba = a streetside restaurant**

**Dhobi = Washerman **

**Chalo! = Come on!**

**Hai Ram = Oh God**

**Desh-bhakt = Patriot (can be literally translated as "country worshipper")**

**Little notes of interest:**

**Sachin Tendulkar is a world famous Indian cricketer (for anyone unfamiliar with the game). Sadly he retired a couple of years ago. In India, he's still known by the epithet "Little Master."**

**Galjeet uses the phrase "****_Angrez chale gaye, par inhe chod gaye_****" when referring to Peeta – a modified dialogue inspired by Asrani's English jailer scene from the blockbuster movie ****_Sholay. _**

**India was a British colony which became independent on 15th August, 1947. **

**Manoj Kumar is an Indian actor/director who is well known for making patriotic movies, his most famous one being ****_Upkaar_****, which features the song "Mere Desh ki Dharti."**


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

**Good Morning, Mumbai**

"We ought to fire him!" Haydar was grumbling to Effie. "He's fourteen, not four! He ought to know better."

"That isn't necessary," Katniss interrupted. "He's still only a teenager. He'll learn. Won't you, Raju?"

"Yes, memsaab."

Peeta winced when he heard the crack at the end of the boy's voice. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Raju. It appeared that Katniss, too, felt the same way, even though the boy had unwittingly let Galjeet into the house. After managing to calm down her aunt and uncle, Katniss plopped on to the sofa, next to Peeta, who was drawing the horse Lucas had ridden to the wedding in his sketch book - and actively trying not to get affected by the heady scent of the woman next to him.

Katniss had just come back from taking a shower, her still glistening hair loosely braided over one shoulder. He could smell shampoo and sandalwood incense from the prayer room and the cup of strong, milky mint tea Katniss was holding in her hands – her second one that morning.

"He's the sole supporter for his family," Katniss told Peeta in a quiet voice. "Raju. Lives in the slums. I couldn't let them fire him. Every time I look at him I think to myself that it could've been me. It's probably what would have happened to me and Prim if Haydar uncle hadn't saved us."

Peeta closed the sketch book. "Prim told me and Luke a little about that. How you were the one who kept them going for so long. She said they would have died if you hadn't taken care of everything those first few weeks. You shouldn't sell yourself short, Katniss."

She shook her head. A stray drop of water slid down the back of her neck into the collar of the loose, pale green cotton tunic she was wearing. _Cool it_, he warned himself. Thank God the sketch book was settled safely over his lap.

"I take no credit for it. I just did what I had to back then – to survive." Katniss gave him a shy smile before taking a sip of her tea.

"Do you want some chai?" she offered. "You don't take sugar, right?"

"No, I'm good for now," Peeta said, surprised. "Though you're right; I don't take any sugar. You noticed that?"

Katniss flushed. "Well, I'm not _completely_ self-absorbed. I do notice things. I pay attention."

"I don't think I've seen anyone less self-absorbed than you," he said honestly, secretly thrilled by her words. "So much that you can be completely oblivious to the effect you have on other people."

Katniss frowned, considering his words, as if trying to determine whether they were a compliment or an insult.

"Your family loves you, for one," he said. "Prim and your friend Johanna absolutely adore you. I heard so much about you from your sister before even meeting you that I was fascinated. I wondered to myself – 'Who is this Katniss Singhania? Is she a real person?' Didn't think you'd ever match up to the person Prim was describing if I met you face to face."

Katniss drained her cup and set it on the teapoy before them. "And now that you _have_ met me, what do you think?" she joked. "Am I as good as Prim says?"

"Nope," he said, pausing for a moment while she laughed. "You're better."

She stopped laughing and looked at him out of those big grey eyes. He had not seen anyone look so scared or vulnerable. He was just about to reach out for her, when she blinked, her face growing blank once more, the mask she put on during the wedding back in place.

"Do you still want to go sightseeing?" she said, changing the topic.

He hoped he didn't look as frustrated as he felt. "Yeah, sure. If you're up for it. I mean, if you're too tired after last night, I understand."

"I work at an all-night call centre," Katniss said. "I'm used to sleeping for a few hours and still making time for other things."

She studied Peeta for a moment and he wondered what she was thinking. He'd cleaned up since they first met in the kitchen that morning (his cupcakes even had Haydar nodding approvingly – "Not bad, boy.") and was wearing a pair of faded jeans and an old gray t-shirt with the Toronto Maple Leafs' logo on it.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"I'm just wondering if you'll fit. You're just a little bigger than what I'm used to." Her words nearly made him choke on his tongue.

"What is it?" She'd probably noticed the way his face had reddened. "Did I say something?"

"Nothing," he gasped out, trying not to laugh. "Just remembered something."

She eyed him suspiciously before rising to her feet. "Okay then. I think it'll be okay. Do you want to take your sketch book along?"

He grinned. "Are you going to let me draw you?"

She rolled her eyes. "We'll see. Now get whatever you need and meet me outside. We're going on a little joyride."

kpkpkp

Ten minutes later, Peeta was no longer laughing, sandwiched in the sidecar of Katniss's pale blue scooter, a helmet strapped to his head, trying to ignore the smirk on Haydar's face as Katniss turned the key in the ignition and the vehicle sputtered to life.

"Have fun, kids!" Effie called out cheerfully from the doorway. "Enjoy Mumbai!"

_Enjoy Mumbai, my ass. _Peeta thought irritably. He didn't know what was worse – being accosted by Katniss's uncle and aunt (who gave them plenty of not-so-subtle "keep your hands off my niece" warnings) before they managed to leave the house, or feeling every dent and bump in the road as Katniss navigated through the maze of cars, double-decker B.E.S.T. buses, lorries and bullock-carts that made up Mumbai traffic.

"Sorry about that," Katniss told him quietly, when they were stopped at a traffic light. "I don't normally drive a car in the city – and the side-car worked well in the past for Prim or my friends from work. Are you comfortable, though? With your leg?"

She sounded concerned – a fact that appeased him a little in spite of the smirks he'd been getting from various other motorists and passers-by.

"I'm okay," he said. His leg would be a little sore, but that also happened sometimes when he was on his feet too long. "Just feel like a bit of an idiot with all these people gawking at me."

Katniss frowned, as if she didn't really believe him. "I don't know why Uncle Haydar insisted on the side-car. I rarely use it anymore."

"He probably doesn't trust me with you."

"Huh! As if I'd do anything inappropriate. I'm twenty-six years old. He should trust me a little more!"

"Twenty-six, huh?" Peeta smirked. "An older woman. I like it."

"What do you mean, older woman?" She sounded so panicked it was adorable. "How old _are_ you exactly?"

"Relax, Katniss." He laughed. "I'm not jail bait. I turned twenty-five last October. At most, I'm probably just a few months younger than you."

Had they not been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and had a double-decker bus not just passed so close by that he could almost touch it, Peeta would have teased her a little more, asking her why his age was of such concern to her – if she had been having dirty thoughts about him. But Peeta didn't want to startle her or cause an accident.

"I have to give you props," he said. "Driving in this congestion – do people even follow any lanes?"

Katniss gave him the sort of smile that made his heart skip a beat. "You _make_ your own lanes in Mumbai, Peeta, or you never get anywhere."

"And I thought Toronto was bad. But I have to say Mumbai is a beast of a different kind. I don't think I've heard this much honking in my life." Even the trucks had the words Horn OK Please painted on their bumpers, he noticed with some amusement.

"Well then it's a good thing my uncle isn't driving you," Katniss said. "He has three horns in his car, one of them set to this awful 1970s item song called _Mungda_. When he's in a rush, he presses all of them so that the cars ahead of him think they're blocking a lot of traffic. In reality, it's only Haydar uncle in a rush to get to the liquor store."

Peeta laughed. Overall, though, he felt safe with Katniss behind the wheel. She was a good driver, often finding gaps in the traffic large enough to navigate both scooter and side-car, slowing down at times to make sure he didn't feel the worst of the bumps on the road.

"The shock absorbers on this thing are nearly gone," she admitted after a while. "Do you want to hop on back? I won't tell Uncle Haydar if you don't."

Peeta heaved a sigh of relief. "Please!"

Though, at the end of it, he did not know if relieving his aching leg was any better than the feel of Katniss's lush bottom pressed firmly against his now desperately aching groin.

kpkpkp

Once they settled down, Katniss was surprised by how much there was to show Peeta, answering questions he asked about the various statues and buildings clustered around Bombay Central. Time flew by as she pointed things out, talking a little bit about the British influenced architecture and the renaming of the railway station from Victoria Terminus to Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus.

"De-colonizing, they call it," Katniss said. "It's how they changed the city's name back to Mumbai. It's strange though. Sometimes I find myself slipping, calling Mumbai 'Bombay.' I don't know, I like both names. Though when I was a kid, I would always ask Papa if there was a bomb in the bay. Papa would always reply that Mumbai was on the coast of the Arabian Sea, not the Bay of Bengal. He would _never_ say anything about the bomb though. He'd be completely obtuse about it and it would drive me crazy. I think Papa liked that."

She liked the way Peeta's chest rumbled with laughter at her story. Galjeet had rarely ever laughed at the little jokes that she made; most times he'd just made her feel as if she'd grown an extra head. Though, if she was being honest with herself, Katniss liked the feel of Peeta himself – of her back pressed against his broad chest, his large hands gently gripping her hips.

By the time they finally broke for lunch, it was nearly 1 pm and _Sardar_, the restaurant Katniss had been raving about was packed.

She bit her lip – it was tough getting a table here, but the food was so good! And she wanted to show Peeta exactly what she meant when she said about Bombay _pav_ being the best ever bread in the world.

"I can bet I can replicate this _pav_ you keep talking about," Peeta told her now, in that cute accent of his. "You can't keep challenging a baker like that, Katniss."

"And I keep telling you that you won't be able to replicate it," Katniss said. "Oh, look! A table has opened up!"

A waiter led them to the table, rapidly wiping down the surface with a wet cloth. "Ready?" he asked Katniss.

"No, one minute," she said. "Menu _hai_?"

As the waiter went off to get two menus, she turned her attention back to Peeta. "You won't be able to replicate Bombay's pav because to do that, you'll need one key ingredient."

"Oh yeah?" Peeta raised a blond eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Bombay's pollution," she said.

Peeta just stared at her. The way his mouth fell open tickled her insides like nothing else.

"That was _bad_, Katniss." Despite the groan, his blue eyes were twinkling. "I mean it. Really, really bad."

"Prim says I make the worst PJs out there," she admitted after her fit of laughter had subsided.

"PJ? Let me guess. Poor Joke?"

"You can even call it a Pathetic Joke."

"Well it's not at that level yet," Peeta said, grinning. "If you want Pathetic, you should listen to Darius try to hit on girls at a bar. Or anywhere, really."

The waiter returned, slamming two laminated menus on the table.

Peeta widened his eyes comically. "He doesn't seem too happy."

Katniss shrugged, perusing the items offered. "He'll get over it. So, there are a couple of options. There's the regular pav-bhaji of course, and there's the cheese pav-bhaji, which is basically cheese grated on top of the bhaji. There's also vada-pav, which is a big potato fritter crushed between two slices of pav with whole green chillies."

"I think I'll stick to the regular pav-bhaji," Peeta said after a moment.

When the waiter returned, Katniss placed an order for a regular and a cheese pav-bhaji. She also ordered two cokes and a bottle of water.

"This way you can try out both and see what you like," she explained.

"So you're a cheese lover, eh?" Peeta's eyes gleamed. "Will have to add that to the list of things I now know about you."

"You have a list?"

"Archer. Dancer. Singer. Protector of knights in distress. Cheese-lover," he counted off. "I think you're going to have to try out the cheese buns we make at the bakery. Don't know if it'll live up to what we're getting here, but I have to say I make some damn good ones."

"A little confident, are we?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? Women dig my buns."

"Okay, now _that_ was bad." But she felt her mouth widen anyway, in what she was sure was a too-big, too-goofy grin. He grinned back at her in the same way.

It was strange, she thought. She could no longer remember the last time she'd laughed so much or felt so carefree. Maybe it was just this bubble they were in, she told herself. Two lonely people who met at a wedding and were now spending a few hours of free time together. _Nothing more than that_, she decided, despite the disappointment she felt at that very thought.

A few minutes later, their food arrived – the thick, fragrant, piping hot tomato-vegetable gravy that made up the _bhaji_ – and the pav – two gleaming rolls of pillow-soft bread toasted lightly on a _tava_.

"They'll bring more bread if we need it," Katniss said, sprinkling chopped onions and squeezing a lemon over her cheesy bhaji. She ripped off a piece of bread and dug in, allowing the bread to soak up the hot mix of cheese, butter and spicy gravy, the flavours melting on her tongue. She closed her eyes. _Ah, yes. _Euphoria.

When she opened her eyes again, she found Peeta staring at her, his mouth slightly open. She blushed. Shit, did she make some sort of sound? He must think her such an idiot. "Did you try yours yet?"

Peeta blinked a couple of times, his eyes darker than before. "Yeah, I was just…let me…" He licked his lips and, like her, sopped up some of the gravy with his bread.

She was pleased when his eyes widened with appreciation. "Woah, this is good," he said through a mouthful of bread. "A bit heavy on the butter maybe, but the spices! Damn, I could probably eat a ton of this."

"Well, be careful. Too much of it'll send you to the bathroom for a long time. Johanna learnt this the hard way."

Peeta grimaced. "Thanks. Now I just lost my appetite."

Talk moved from favourite foods (his was poutine) to favourite books and movies. They were both happy to discover an affinity for Harry Potter though Katniss had not seen Star Wars which Peeta claimed she was "totally missing out on!"

A series of pings from Peeta's phone interrupted them. "I'm gonna shut this stupid thing off," Peeta muttered.

"It's okay," Katniss said. "You can check your phone if you want. I don't mind."

He glanced at the screen briefly and laughed. "Maybe I can read a few of these. And share them with you. It's Finnick and Darius. They've managed to get a ride with your friend Johanna and her cousin to Goa. Finnick says: 'Annie D'Costa is the hottest piece of…' er, I mean…"

"I get the picture," Katniss said, amused. Annie D'Costa may have been Johanna's cousin, but was nowhere near as out-going as Katniss's best friend. Annie was beautiful - a lot of boys liked her - but she was gentle and quiet and deeply religious. Johanna always accused Annie of giving her a sinner's complex by going to church every Sunday, but Katniss had always liked Annie. Annie was good for Johanna, covering for her during her crazy escapades, even lecturing her the way a mother should have - important, Katniss thought, for someone like Johanna who had no other family.

"She called him a…wait what's this word?" Peeta held out the cell phone to Katniss.

Katniss squinted at the screen. "A _chhichora_? Is he absolutely sure?"

"Looks like it." Peeta said after exchanging a couple of texts to confirm this. "Why, what does it mean? Johanna won't tell him, apparently."

"It means vulgar or indecent. A pervert, basically."

Peeta snorted. "Are you sure?"

"Well, it is true that Mumbai has its own form of Hindi. Over here, the word _ghoda_ can mean a gun and not a horse. _Mamu_ can mean fool, not your mother's brother. But _chhichora_?" Katniss laughed. "Even here, there is really only one meaning for that word."

"And Finnick says he's in love." Peeta switched off his phone, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Somehow that makes perfect sense."

"What does?"

"Finn falling for a girl who won't fall all over him. Back home, he just needs to step into a bar and the girls start flocking. He doesn't even need to try."

"What about you?" Katniss cursed herself inwardly the minute the words left her mouth. "Do the girls flock to you as well?"

Peeta gave her a shy smile. "Not as many as you may think." He fiddled with the straw of his Coke. "Besides that, none of them really made an impression."

"So you really didn't date anyone after…"

"After I broke up with my ex, yeah. I mean I would talk to girls in bars – some of them were even nice – but nothing really _clicked_, if you know what I mean. After a couple of drinks, I always ended up making excuses to go home alone." Peeta cleared his throat a little nervously. "Katniss, I –"

"Stupid creature!" A woman's shouts cut through the chatter in the restaurant. A hard smacking sound, followed by a sharp, childish cry of pain. "Who is going to pay for this broken glass now? Do you think money grows on trees?"

"Madam," a waiter stepped in. "Madam, theek hai, na? He's just a child. You don't have to pay anything. We will take care of it. It's only one glass."

Katniss grimaced. She never understood parents who made scenes like this – or even the need for corporal punishment where only a scolding would have sufficed. Her parents had never hit her, and neither had Haydar or Effie. The only beating Katniss had ever gotten was in school, once in the Seventh Standard, when she'd forgotten her twelve times tables in maths class. The teacher had smacked her twelve times on each hand with a ruler. Haydar had been so angry, he'd pinned the hapless teacher to the wall of the classroom the very next day by his throat, ignoring the shocked Principal and cheering students. "You try that again, and you won't have a hand anymore, Crayprasad Sharma," Haydar had said. The teacher had never touched Katniss or any other kid in her class again.

Katniss turned back to Peeta to ask if he wanted to leave when she found him staring at the table, his fists clenched, perspiration beading his forehead. She had never seen anyone look so pale.

"Peeta," she said softly. "Peeta, are you okay?"

She placed her hands over his closed fists, so tightly clenched were they that the veins were standing out in sharp relief. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was muttering something to himself. "Peeta, it's Katniss. Peeta, are you with me? Whatever it is – it's not real."

She whispered the same refrain over and over – _not real, not real, not real_ – until the tension left Peeta's hands and he turned them around to clasp hers.

He opened his eyes and gave Katniss a weak smile. "Well. That was embarrassing. Hasn't happened in years actually."

Katniss uncapped a bottle of water and pushed it towards him. "Here. Drink this."

Peeta gulped down the liquid, his adam's apple bobbing. He looked so exhausted that Katniss worried about him.

"Are you really all right? Peeta, you must tell me if you're ill. I can take you to a doctor."

Peeta shook his head. "No. It's nothing physical. It's …" his voice trailed off as he looked around them. "Katniss is there somewhere else we can talk? Somewhere not as …crowded?"

Katniss raised a hand, indicating to the waiter that they were ready for their bill.

"I know just the place," she said.

**XXXXXX**

**Apologies if this chapter reads like a tourist guide book!**

**English translations for Hindi words/phrases in this chapter:**

**Tava = a wide flat metal dish used for cooking**

**Madam, theek hai, na? = Madam, it's okay! **

**Little notes of interest:**

**Sardar Restaurant is a real place in Mumbai, located in the Tardeo area. They are reputed for serving the best pav-bhaji in the city. I have sadly never been to this place (even though I've eaten pav-bhaji by the truckload) so any inaccuracies are mine. **

**Yes, Mumbai traffic really IS as bad as I'm describing it in this chapter and so is the honking. If you can drive in Mumbai, without getting into an accident, you are a superhuman (to me, at least). **

**"Mungda" is an old item song from the 1977 movie, ****_Inkaar_****. While Katniss has grown tired of it (thanks to Haydar and his musical horn) it's actually a very lively drinking song set in a bar, and quite fun to dance to. The actress dancing in the song, Helen, is of Burmese origin and was very well known for doing item numbers. **

**Fun fact:**** "Item songs" or "Item numbers" are usually songs placed in a Bollywood movie featuring a beautiful, usually skimpily dressed woman. The songs are typically used to promote movies and draw audiences into theatres. As for the whistles that break out during an item song? Well, there is no place better to experience them than with a hundred other movie goers in an Indian theatre ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Trigger Warning: Minor Character Deaths. Brief mentions of violence. _**

**CHAPTER 9**

**Confessions – Part 1**

Eight minutes south of Sardar lay Chowpatty Beach, a place Katniss had intended to take Peeta sometime during the evening, when it was a little more crowded – families and children paddling in the sea, building forts out of sand, eating candy floss and roasted corn and _bhel-puri_ wrapped in newspaper cones. The sun would be slowly sinking into the water, temporarily staining the sky and, faced with that multi-hued palette of oranges and reds, she would have asked him to pick out the shade that he'd said was his favourite. "Soft like the sunset and not garish like the hijra's hair," he'd joked earlier during the day.

Right now, however, the beach was silent, a long stretch of sand curving over dark blue water, into the buildings that made up Mumbai's skyline, a layer of smog hanging over them like fine mist. After parking the scooter, Katniss did not hesitate to hold out a hand to Peeta once more. They walked on sand packed thick from the humidity and pockmarked with footprints, navigating past crumpled Five Star wrappers and discarded Limca bottles, past the area where the Corn-walla would set up his stall in the evening.

She tried to let go of his hand when they reached their destination – a small sandy hill that she remembered playing on as a child – but he would not let go.

"I'm sorry. I just. I need…"

"It's okay," she said, understanding instinctively, even though she did not know the exact reason for his despair. The tips of his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her palm. He wasn't sweating anymore, but his face was still a little pale. His hair looked like burnished gold in the early afternoon sunlight.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, breathing in moisture and salt, allowing the warm air to caress their faces.

"I think it'll be easier if I start from the beginning," he said. "I wasn't born in Toronto, but a place called Bronte. It's a small town – a village, really. Everyone knows everyone; you have no secrets. That sort of place."

He fell silent again, but Katniss waited, knowing that there was more to come. Katniss wasn't a talker, but she knew how to listen, knew to wait for the hitch in his breath, the pause before the words came rolling out of his mouth like marbles.

"My mother wasn't someone you'd call nurturing by any means. They married young, she and Dad, but for some reason I always got the feeling that something was a little off about them. It would be a while before we figured it out, but long story cut short – Dad loved another woman. A girl he thought he would marry before he figured out she was in love with someone else. Mom was his mistake – the sort of compromise you make by marrying a girl when you find out she's pregnant with your kid from what was supposed to be a one-night stand.

"Luke says it wasn't that bad when he was younger. Mom would smile more often back then. I think she still thought she could win over Dad somehow, get him to love her. When she couldn't she turned bitter. There was only one thing she hung onto. The hope for a daughter she could call her own. But then I was born. And the doctor said that she couldn't have any more kids."

Peeta's voice steeled in a way Katniss was all too familiar with – the quiet bracing that came before confessing something far too painful to put into words. So when his nails dug crescents into her palm, she said nothing of the mild discomfort that came from it, and instead gently traced a vein that ran like a river under his skin.

"I never really knew why she didn't like me. I did whatever I was told. Got straight As in school. When I was younger I'd pick her flowers and draw her pictures for her birthday, never knowing why she'd just toss them aside and call them useless. But I knew it was me she was referring to. I can count on one hand the number of times she smiled at me. For the beatings she gave me, even both hands wouldn't be enough. In the Mellark house, you learned quickly that making mistakes was not an option."

Katniss felt something hot prickle the back of her throat.

"When I was eleven, I messed up – really messed up. Accidentally toppled a wedding cake over. It had taken days for Dad to get perfect. A cake for a hundred people, the biggest order we had all month." Peeta took a deep breath. "She started hitting me. Called me a _stupid creature_. I was used to the beatings, but this time she picked up a rolling pin."

A strangled sound slid out of Katniss's mouth.

"The last thing I remember her saying is 'I wish you were never born.' Then she brought down the pin and I'm pretty sure I would have died right then and there if my brother hadn't stepped in. My brother Rye."

A hundred questions erupted in her mind – different variations of _Rye?_ and _Brother?_ – but Katniss pressed a fist to her mouth, stuffing them all in.

"The blow sent him reeling over the kitchen counter. Cracked his spinal cord. The doctor said he probably didn't even feel anything. He was fourteen."

Katniss didn't question herself this time before sliding an arm around his waist. She rested her head against his shoulder, breathing in the scents of sweat and spices.

"Rye was my other brother. The middle one. The One You Don't Talk About. He was the planned kid. Mom's favourite. I can't even count the number of times he just took the blame for me or Luke if we screwed up. She never hit him as much as she hit us. But after what happened to Rye, the police and child protective services came and took her away.

"It was a wake-up call for Dad, too," Peeta added bitterly. "Made him realize what a shitty father he'd been all along. I mean, he never hit us, but he always turned the blind eye when she did. Felt guilty for marrying her or something. Moved us to Toronto the year after she was convicted."

Katniss looked up at Peeta. She could sense what he was about to say next. Could feel the survivor's guilt he carried with him in her bones. But before she could say a word, he trudged on.

"Manslaughter. Twenty-five years. She lasted about twelve before hanging herself in her cell. No one knew how she got hold of a rope. For the longest time no one would talk about her.

"I had so many nightmares and flashbacks that finally Dad enrolled me and Luke to see a therapist. I still go sometimes, though not as frequently as before. Took me a long time to accept that Rye's death wasn't really my fault. I still don't know why Doctor Aurelius calls us Mellarks a hardy bunch." He forced out a chuckle.

"I started taking art classes in school and college as part of my therapy. Then the accident happened. I stopped drawing even though Doctor A advised against it. It took me a year before I started drawing again, though it happened in a way I never thought possible."

He fell silent after that, his grip on her hand loosening.

When Katniss spoke again, her throat felt raw. "What made you start drawing again?"

For the first time since they sat on the sand, Peeta turned to look at Katniss again. A mix of emotions crossed his face, nothing Katniss could clearly identify. Silently, he unzipped the backpack he'd been carrying around all morning and pulled out a thick spiral sketchbook.

Katniss traced the cover, the grooves at the corners, left behind by old folds. She looked up at him questioningly and he nodded. _Open it_.

So she did, quietly turning page after page, nothing the date of the first entry – _June 12, 2005. _Sketches of streetcars and subways and people, the CN Tower a needle over a shimmering lake. A stray wind, as if tired by her slow pace, gently tugged the pages from her fingers, fluttering until she caught hold of them again, her eyes drawn in to the sketch of a girl.

A girl Katniss recognized, with some shock, as herself.

In the sketch, Katniss was sitting on an old wrought iron bench that used to be in Haydar's garden at one point, her hair in two long braids over her shoulders. She was also wearing a dress: cap-sleeves, knee-length, a column of small buttons stretching from her waist to the hollow of her throat. Though the sketch was colourless, Katniss remembered the luminescent shade of the pale yellow dress – one Prim had sent her in Canada, one Effie bua said made her look _innocent_.

Prim had begged Katniss for a picture wearing the dress and Effie had cajoled her into splitting her hair into two braids. Just this once, they both had said. Just this once.

"What…" Katniss stared at Peeta, whose face was now slowly regaining colour, flushed pink, as if from embarrassment. Letting go of her hand, he scratched the back of his neck and for the first time since Katniss had met him he seemed to be at a loss for words.

"What is this? How did I…how did my sketch end up in your book?" Her voice came out a little sharper than she intended it to be.

He sighed. "Like I told you yesterday, the accident left me pretty antisocial. I spent a lot of time pitying and loathing myself, spent days locked up in my room sometimes. It was around that time that Luke began dating Prim. She sent me a friend request on Facebook, but for the longest time I'd just left the request lying there in my inbox. One day, I was so bored, I just decided to click 'accept' and log on.

"Within seconds of adding her, updates began showing up on my newsfeed. A link, a status. Then a picture. Your picture." He pointed to the sketch and then Katniss remembered. Prim had put up the picture on Facebook in spite of Katniss's protests and had even tagged her in it. The caption had read: _happy birthday to the best sister in the world!_ Unable to remain angry in the face of such a loving sentiment, Katniss had let it slide, figuring that no one else would be interested in a picture of her. She was just an ordinary girl after all. Small, dark. Not even particularly pretty.

"For the first time in a year I felt myself pause," Peeta said. "Feel something other than indifference. I think it was your eyes. I didn't even think about it. I just saved the picture on desktop and spent an abnormal amount of time just looking at them, trying to figure out the best way to capture them on paper. That sketch is just the first of many drafts I did trying to get you on paper perfectly."

And it was true. Page after page followed: sketches of eyes, lips and braids, Katniss in different poses and wearing expressions that were surprisingly accurate despite Peeta having seen nothing of her at the time except for that single picture.

"I wanted to tell you," he said, his blue eyes trained on her. "I wanted to tell you about it when I first saw you at the wedding – though at the time you were sort of stealing my brother's shoes."

Despite herself, Katniss cracked a smile.

"I guess I was also a little afraid. I mean I probably sound like a stalker to you now, but when I looked at that picture, I felt something so strong…I had to put it to paper. First I thought it was just something I needed to get out of my system. Then it became a regular thing. Drawing you, going to therapy, figuring out what I needed to do with my life again. I wasn't lying when I said that I came home alone after an evening out with Finn and the guys or even after talking to other girls. No one – none of them could even match up to the girl in the picture – what she seemed to be telling me with her eyes."

His confession made Katniss's breath catch.

"On bad days I'd just look at the picture and grow calm. For some reason, I knew I'd be okay."

For long moments Katniss said nothing. She had not known it was possible to have such an impact on a person without even talking to them. And that, too, someone like Peeta. Someone who had a smile on his face despite all the things that had happened to him. His confession and story overwhelmed her so much that Katniss's first instinct was to run.

Yet, when she looked at his face again, she felt as if she was seeing him for the first time: the subtle shadows under his eyes, the worry she saw in them now – as if he was regretting the things he'd said to her.

"I scared you, didn't I?"

"N-no, I –"

"You don't need to lie to me, Katniss." His forehead furrowed. "I hope you don't think I told this as some sort of sob story. I just wanted to explain myself – the reason for my flashbacks. I didn't want you to pity me."

"I don't pity you, I…" Katniss cursed herself and her inability to put into words all the things she was feeling right now – the anger at his mother and his father, the shock and surprising pain that pricked her insides when he talked his brother's death and the accident. "You don't deserve this," she said forcefully. "Someone like you – someone so kind and funny and good – did not deserve something like this in his life."

Peeta's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, probably to protest or say something funny or silly to distract her or change the tone of their conversation. Katniss didn't want to hear it. She didn't want him to put on a mask again. She just wanted to comfort him somehow, the way he'd comforted her at the wedding.

She wrapped her arms around him fully and tucked her head in the curve made by his neck and shoulder. Humming softly into his ear, the way she would have with Prim, slowly she felt him relax into her embrace, the taut muscles flanking his spine loosening. His large hands flattened over her back, pulling her closer.

Had Katniss been thinking a little more clearly, she would have worried about the policemen who sometimes made rounds of the beach, breaking up cuddling couples. But today, no one was there except for a pair of pigeons, their necks shimmering green in the sun, pecking away at something in the sand a few feet away.

They were in their own little bubble, away from prying eyes and trigger happy uncles. When she looked up at Peeta again, she felt the warmth of his breath on her lips. She wondered if he would taste spicy like the bhaji or sweet like the coke or a mix of both. As if reading her thoughts – or perhaps wondering something similar – he closed the gap. His lips were warm, pliant, and slightly moist. Feathering her with light, close-lipped kisses at first, he let out a soft moan before gently sucking her bottom lip into his mouth.

A shock of warmth pooled at her core. She felt her throat vibrate with a sound – and he must have heard it, from the way his fingers were now digging into the hair at the base of her braid, the soft curve of her hips. For the longest time Katniss had thought she was an expert at knowing what it was like to live with only half an appetite – to never fully eat a piece of bread and save some for later. To dream a dream and then give it up – voluntarily – for someone else. She should have been angry with him for revealing this other secret space inside her – a hollow that she'd not imagined even existed. And she would have – had she not sensed that his hunger was as great as her own.

And when his mouth trailed a line of hot, desperate kisses down her neck to her clavicle, Katniss allowed herself to stop thinking and simply accept the sweet warmth that flooded through her. She knew she would not be the first to pull away.

**XXXXXXXX**

**Little bits of information:**

**Chowpatty Beach is a very popular spot in Mumbai for locals and tourists alike, but typically quiet on weekday afternoons. Policemen DO sometimes make rounds of the beach areas, usually to break up couples engaging in "public indecency," but I decided our two protagonists really didn't need that in this chapter. **

**_Bhel Puri_**** is a popular Indian snack made of puffed rice, pieces of fried crackers called puris, vegetables and tamarind sauce. **


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

**Confessions – Part 2**

It was Peeta who pulled away first, his hands cupping her cheeks.

"We need to stop," he said a little breathlessly. "I didn't mean to…I shouldn't have…This is a bit too fast."

Katniss's lips were still burning from their kisses, her body buzzing from the feelings they'd evoked. But when she heard his words, she deflated, her insides turn into something sludgy and tar-like.

_Fast._

Galjeet had used that word in the past for other girls._ Oh that one? She's a fast item. Never seen her last more than a month with any one guy._ He had used the word for Malini, too. _You're good Kavi. Not like Malini._

"I'm not _fast_," she said now, throwing the word back in Peeta's face. "If that's what you're thinking. I don't go around kissing guys like that."

Peeta's eyes widened with shock and then hardened. The flush that had overtaken his cheeks slowly began to subside. "I would never call you fast. Or easy. Or anything like that," he said quietly. "When I said that, I meant _I_ was going too fast, that I needed to control myself. I want – no I need to do this right, Katniss. And before you ask – no, it's not because of anything your uncle said, though he _is_ a pretty intimidating guy.

"I don't want this," he pointed between the two of them, "to be out of pity or because you think I'm in pain. I've seen what it does to people when they try to drown their problems with sex. My parents are the best example of that. I don't want to be that way. If anything does happen between us, I want it to be real."

Katniss fell silent, her anger ebbing. Now that the giddiness from the kiss had worn off, the doubts started creeping in. What if this _was_ just a one-time thing? It was possible, she knew. The kiss they had could have been an anomaly. Heat captured in a moment, temporarily numbing old pain.

Other thoughts began to creep in as well. Of being left alone again, her heart more crippled than before, or worse, turning into someone like her mother, a woman who sometimes still lived a world where Katniss's father was still alive.

She took a deep breath and braced herself. "You're probably right. It could probably be something that happened in the heat of the moment. You're here on vacation. Once you go back to Canada, you'll probably forget everything and –"

"Wait! What are you saying? I don't want to forget!" he interrupted. She was surprised when he let out a soft laugh. "I really am screwing this up, aren't I?"

He stroked the skin on the back of her hand. The action soothed her somewhat.

"I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you. Or that this is a fling. I don't do flings. Or one-night stands or any of that. I'm pretty sure the guys have bet on how long it'll be before I start wearing a chastity belt and turn into a monk."

An image of Peeta wearing padlocked iron underwear popped into her head. She shook her head at her own silliness and bit back a laugh.

As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, he smiled a little as well even though his eyes were still a little cautious.

"I'm not telling you that I love you," Peeta said. "My Dad used to do that to Mom all the time and I could always tell he didn't really mean it, that sometimes he was just saying the words to appease her or because he was _supposed_ to. I think this was part of the reason I stayed with my ex for so long – seeing my parents and the way they were.

"I don't want to be like that. Maybe it'll take me longer to find the right person, but I didn't want to settle the way my Dad did. Not that I'm excusing her behavior, but I think part of the reason Mom became that way was because she and Dad kept beating a dead horse. At the end of it, even when Rye was still alive, they weren't even friends anymore."

"Do you really think it's bad to settle?" Katniss hesitated, thinking back to her own relationship with Galjeet. It hadn't been perfect; Katniss could frankly admit now that her hurt had been more a by-product of betrayal than the loss of her first love, but she had been happy back then. They'd liked each other and that was saying something. "I mean, sometimes, I look at my parents and the way they were and wonder if they set the bar too high."

"Maybe, when it comes to love, it's worth the risk."

There was a tender look on his face, a look that seemed familiar to Katniss though she could not pin-point why. It told her that he wanted to take that risk. For her.

"I know you're having a hard time trusting people right now," he said earnestly, "but I'd like to win you over."

"Win me over? I'd make a poor prize."

The scowl Peeta gave her could have rivaled her own. "I really wish you would stop putting yourself down like that. More than that, I'd really like to beat up the jerk who knocked down your self-esteem."

"Peeta," she interrupted. "It's not that. You've…I just…I think you have this image of me from my pictures. You've built me up into some sort of paragon. I'm not. You'll figure it out soon enough. I'm stubborn, selfish, and bad-tempered. I'm afraid of what will happen when you do realize these things."

This time Peeta grew a little bolder cupping her small hand in both of his. "You're wrong when you say I think of you as a paragon. I don't. But I'm not perfect either. I wasn't lying when I told you that I don't love you yet. But I _like_ you a lot, Katniss. And I have a strong feeling that it could …go somewhere, if we tried. I may not know everything about you, but I want to know you. What makes you laugh, what makes you cry. What makes you so angry that you could rip someone's head off." His smile widened when she laughed. "I want you to know me as well.

"If you don't want me to though, I can understand. But I would say give me a chance. Get to know me this week and even after. I know what you're thinking," he held up a hand before she could raise her concerns. "Staying in touch long distance is tough. Especially across ten and a half time zones. But it's not impossible. There's email, texting, Skype. I have some money save up and I can come back and visit again in a few months. What I'm saying is that I am serious, Katniss and I want to give this a shot."

Katniss watched the sea rolling in a few feet away, smoothing out the sand. It was just too much all that he'd said. They'd only officially met last night after all.

Though how could so much have happened so quickly in twenty-four hours baffled her. No wonder he wanted to take things slow.

She licked her lips. "What if we feel things aren't working out?" she asked. "What if I decide I don't want to talk to you again or if you meet someone else you like better?"

"Me finding anyone else over there is a shot in the dark at this point," Peeta said at once. He took a deep breath. "But if you feel at any point that you want us to stop corresponding or just go back to being friends – for whatever reason – it's okay. I won't get angry or hold it against you. As long as you want me around, I'm here, Katniss."

She nodded. If any other guy had said the same thing, she would've chalked it up as a line or a mind game. The sort of BS Johanna's old boyfriends used to dish out before turning the relationship into a complete mess. Emotional _atyachar_, Johanna called it. A complete pain in the ass.

But nothing about Peeta Mellark pinged Katniss's bullshit meter. He sounded sincere, convincing even, when he spoke the words. It could be a sham, she knew. For whatever reason, his promises could be nothing except pretty words strung together, like Christmas lights disguising a shabby stall.

She continued watching the sea, the waves rising and rolling, hypnotic in their movements, rumbling softly in the distance. _Let it in, Katniss,_ they seemed to be saying. _Let it set you ablaze._

"Okay," she said out loud and turned to him again. "Let's give it a shot. Let's…talk."

"So you'll do it?" Her heart rose a little at the happiness she saw in his eyes. "You stay with me? Till then?"

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I will."

Later that night, safely tucked in her bed at Haydar Uncle's house, she would wonder why the words had sounded a lot like _always_.

**Kpkpkp**

Taking things slow was harder than what she had thought it would be, especially when she and Peeta were staying in the same house. By an unspoken agreement, they kept most of their interactions chaste, not even touching each other more than they could help – partly out of respect for Katniss's family, partly because Katniss wasn't sure if she could stop herself from kissing him if they were alone at some point.

Who knew a kiss could be so potent and so addictive all at once? Katniss would have been infuriated by her feelings had she not seen the same frustration in Peeta's eyes, the rapid flex of his fingers as he whipped his hand back, restrained himself from reaching out for her at the dinner table or when Haydar Uncle took them shopping to Oberoi Mall in Malad.

After Peeta's father flew back to Canada, Haydar had made a point to accompany Katniss and Peeta on their little sightseeing tours over the next few days. To the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. To Kala Ghoda. To Haji Ali.

"Haji Ali is full of thugs and pick pockets these days," Haydar pointed out when Katniss said she could take Peeta out to see the mosque by herself. "If someone rips off his wallet, what are you going to do? Besides, I am sure our Canadian boy here would much prefer travelling in an AC car to cramming himself in the sidecar of your little _fut-futiya._"

Though Katniss was annoyed by the new development, she couldn't really argue with Haydar, who seemed to be relishing his role as the proverbial bone in the kebab of her fledgling relationship with Peeta. Though she wasn't really sure if it could be called one, considering that she and Peeta had barely gotten a chance to talk over the past day or two.

"Don't think I don't see the way he looks at you. Or the way you look at him," Haydar told her when they finally returned from an abbreviated tour of the Haji Ali Dargah. Katniss felt her face go red. She was grateful that Peeta was upstairs at the moment. He had barely looked at Katniss when he'd made the excuse about wanting to take a nap. Peeta had been a good sport so far, ignoring Haydar's continuous taunts and snarky comments. But she was worried that they were finally taking their toll on him.

"He's interested in me," she told Haydar, deciding to come clean about it. "He said he wants to stay in touch with me even after he goes to Canada. I don't understand why you need to be so mean to him, Uncle Haydar."

Haydar sneered. "Stay in _touch_, now does he? And you think it will actually last longer than any of the others who tried to stay in _touch_ with you that way?"

Katniss grimaced. Haydar was referring to a brief period of time a couple of years ago when Effie bua had enlisted Katniss on various Indian matrimonial sites to find her a suitable life partner. _Shaadi, Bharat Matrimony, Mera Sathi _– the list had been endless. For several months, Katniss had been forced to talk to and meet with guys who knew her height, weight, skin tone (listed "wheatish" by Effie bua), hobbies, personal goals, date of birth and time (for horoscope purposes).

As if that wasn't enough, during the meetings they interrogated her about other things: _Can you cook? Why do you look fairer in your photograph? Are you a virgin?_

After a point, Katniss had decided to simply start answering the questions with questions of her own: _Can you scrub toilets? I saw your father is bald – is that hereditary? Have you been tested for STDs?_

Not all the men she'd talked to had been idiots. There had been some nice ones from overseas. Katniss had even spent several weeks corresponding with a Hindu man working in Shanghai until he abruptly stopped replying to her messages.

After that, she'd thrown in the towel, refusing to look at the new Interested Parties printout Effie bua left on her table, ripping the sheet into tiny pieces.

"Stop it," Katniss told Haydar now. "It's not like that. It's …he's different. I've actually talked to him. He told me things about himself. He seems serious."

Haydar's hard face softened considerably. "Sweetheart, I worry about you. You know that, right? You know this isn't going to be all romance and roses, no matter how good it may seem to you right now."

"I know. Long distance correspondence is tough. Something could go wrong, either of us could lose interest. We sort of talked about it a couple of days ago. He even said I could break it off if I felt uncomfortable at any time." She sighed. "But I don't want to break it off like this. Not without trying, Uncle Haydar. It may not work, but I won't know if I don't try, right?"

Katniss gently caught hold of her uncle's rugged hands. "You can't protect me all the time, Uncle Haydar. I need to do this. I don't know why, but I do."

Haydar looked uncomfortable, the way he always did when he had no other argument to give. Then he sighed heavily and smirked. "Well the one good thing about this boy is that he's bringing back my old argumentative pain-in-the-ass niece. Go on, sweetheart. Talk to that boy if you want. You're old enough to make your own mistakes anyway." He patted Katniss on her cheek.

"Just remember to stay alive. Don't let anyone kill your spirit."

**kpkpkp**

Unbeknownst to Haydar and Katniss, they were being watched and eavesdropped upon by two women standing a few feet outside the kitchen door.

"What do you think, Lajjo Bhabhi?" Effie asked Katniss's mother quietly.

Lajjo said nothing for a moment, contemplating her answer. She had not missed the chemistry between her daughter and Peeta – the shy flirtation that seemed to accompany their exchanges, the longing she saw in one's eyes when the other wasn't looking.

Days earlier, before Lucas and Peeta's father had left for Canada, he had spoken to Lajjo for some time. She'd felt connected to Evan Mellark – sensing something familiar in his tone when he talked about Peeta. Wistfully, almost. A voice tinged with regret.

"Please feel free to call me Evan," he had told Lajjo before he left for the airport. "I don't mind if you do."

But Lajjo hadn't. She had stuck to the proper term at all times – _Samdhi_ji or Lucas's father, if she was talking about him to someone else.

The only man Lajjo had ever called by name was her husband, Baldev. It was not traditional by any means. Lajjo's knew her mother wouldn't have liked it at all. Lajjo's mother had been old-fashioned, raised in an environment where women deferred to their husbands in all matters, an old world where a wife did not call her husband by name and considered him her God.

Baldev had not been like that. "I'm a man. You're a woman. If I'm a god, you are my goddess. I'd much rather have you cuddled in my arms than groveling at my feet."

Was it any surprise that they fell in love? Lajjo did not excuse herself for her ill health or disappearing on Katniss and Primada when they most needed her.

Now however, when Lajjo looked at Katniss and Peeta and the quiet conversations they seemed to have with their eyes alone, for the first time in several years, she felt the stirrings of another emotion. Hope.

"He's a good boy," she told Effie. "I see hints of Baldev in him – especially when he looks at Katniss."

Effie nodded. "Such nice manners, too. You would think that he would have been scared off by how my husband was acting."

"He doesn't scare easily," Lajjo observed.

Moments later, Peeta skipped down the stairs, smiling widely, appearing refreshed from a brief nap and a shower.

"Hello Effie ji, Lajjo ji," he said. "Is Katniss around?"

"In the kitchen with her uncle," Effie said. She did not miss the slight slip in Peeta's smile, the dismay on the boy's handsome face. But then Peeta seemed to steel himself. There was a determined glint in his eyes. "Great. I'll see if they want to teach me some cricket. I heard Haydar ji was really good at it during his army days."

This time Effie was the one who was impressed. Well. Lajjo Bhabhi was right, it seemed. The two women joined the others in the kitchen, watching Peeta, Haydar and Katniss interact, enjoying the snarky exchange of comments between the three. Peeta, seeming to realize now that Haydar's bark was worse than his bite, gave back as good as he got, teasing Haydar about why Indians were so obsessed with cricket when their national game was hockey.

Effie also made note of the glow on Katniss's face as she listened to Peeta, the soft smile playing on her lips.

Yes, Effie decided. This time she – Aafreen Haydar Ali (nee Tahir) – _would_ be successful in matching up her reluctant niece with someone. She smiled secretly to herself as Katniss and Peeta followed Haydar to the garden, Peeta carefully brushing a hand against the small of Katniss's back.

_All these two needed was a little push. _

**XXXXXXXXX**

**Uh oh, Effie bua's planning to meddle! But what's a Bollywood romance without meddling aunts and uncles anyway? ;)**

**English translations to the Hindi words/Phrases**

**Emotional Atyachar = Emotional torture. (Emotional Atyachar is a popular song from the movie ****_Dev D_****, starring Abhay Deol) **

**Fut-futiya = a term Haydar uses to refer to Katniss's scooter, mostly because of the ****_fut-fut_**** sounds it makes on starting.**

**Samdhiji = A term used by the parents of a bride/groom to refer to the father-in-law. The mother in law is called Samdhan. (NOT to be confused with Samaadhi, which can mean a meditative state in yoga or a funeral monument) **

**Indian matrimonial websites do exist and have a fairly decent success rate at times in finding people suitable matches. These days most people treat them like any other online dating sites – only the people there are intending to get married. **


	11. Chapter 11

**To those who have favourited and followed this story – thank you and I hope you're enjoying the ride so far! Those of you who leave reviews – I heart you! Your reviews are love! :)**

**CHAPTER 11**

**Aunt Effie's Magnificent Matchmaking Plan**

When Effie Ali made a decision, she did not spend a lot of time second-guessing herself. Even Haydar, who would describe his wife's personality as a cross between bubbly and anal-retentive, gave way to Effie's uncanny wisdom and superior organizational skills when it came to running the home and little aspects of their personal lives.

The day she'd entered his house after marriage, Effie had raided the liquor cabinets and thrown out half of Haydar's alcohol stash, resulting in their first big fight. "I am not having a drunkard for a husband," she had said with cold dignity, while Haydar ranted and raved. After they both cooled down, a compromise was made. Effie would stay out of the liquor cabinet as long as Haydar regulated his alcohol – a single glass of good quality scotch or South Indian palm toddy once every evening and no drinking while behind the wheel of a car.

Effie had also been the one who'd discovered Lajjo Bhabhi's talent for midwifery, encouraging the other woman to attend to the women in Effie's large circle – some of whom preferred home births to booking beds in hospitals.

As for the girls – the importance of Katniss and Primada had been stressed upon by Haydar early on, before he married Effie. "Those girls mean the world to me," Haydar had told Effie. It wasn't long before they began to mean the world to Effie as well, unable as she was to have children of her own.

Haydar provided Katniss and Prim had enough food and clothing, Effie made sure the food was nutritious, and that the clothes were washed, pressed and ironed. After several years, even Katniss had been forced to admit it: Haydar had given them a house, Effie had made it a home.

And now that her sweet little Primada was married (albeit out of order and a _little_ earlier than Effie had scheduled), it was time Katniss followed suit. Effie herself had not been given much choice when it came to her own marriage. Her marriage to Haydar had been arranged by her father, who had also served in the army. Like any good Muslim girl who had resigned herself to a life chosen by her parents, Effie had only hoped that her husband was not a filthy slob (which Haydar admittedly was before adopting Katniss and Primada as his nieces) and that she would grow to like him over time.

She could not pin point the exact instant she went from scolding Haydar for some silly thing or another to falling in love with him. But love had happened all the same. As it would with Katniss and Peeta, she thought now.

Organizing a love match was no different from organizing a military coup – at least as far as Effie was concerned. There were obstacles to be dealt with, enemies to be overcome. Effie sighed as she marched over to Katniss's room and knocked on the door, the following afternoon.

_As a housewife, her talents were completely wasted. _

"Come in," Katniss called out.

Effie entered the room, frowning at the sight of Katniss lying on her stomach on the bed, reading a book.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Why aren't you out with the other two?"

"Haydar Uncle said it was too hot to go out today. He and Peeta are playing chess downstairs," Katniss said, rolling her eyes. "I got bored of watching them."

Effie rolled her eyes as well. Heavens! What would these children do if they didn't have her to help them along!

She walked over to the steel-grey Godrej cupboard in the corner of Katniss's room and turned the handle.

"What are you doing?" she heard Katniss ask, but Effie did not answer. Riffling through the rubbish at the bottom (Did the girl not _clean_ her cupboard? Effie wondered) she finally located what she was looking for – a large box with the initials C.P. embossed in fine calligraphy on the top and the sides.

Katniss sat frozen on the bed while Effie dumped the box on the bed and wiped an imaginary bead of sweat off her forehead.

"There. I knew you had _something_ nice in here." Effie told her. "If I had your figure, my dear, I wouldn't be hiding it behind those baggy kurtas and salwars. Especially not with a young man in the house."

"I'm not wearing that," Katniss snapped. "Besides, Peeta doesn't care what I look like!"

Effie sat on the bed and looked right into her niece's furious grey eyes. "Do you like him?" Effie asked bluntly.

"I…It's not like…" Katniss's face reddened. "We're taking it slow."

"Slow doesn't mean glacial, darling. The rate at which you're going, the boy will go back to Canada without any hope and you'll end up turning into a _sadhvi_ and chanting _Om Namoh Shivay_ in the Himalayas," Effie said, not put off by Katniss's scowl in the least. "Men are visual creatures, Katniss. They like it when you smile at them, they like to be reminded from time to time that you are a woman. Besides, isn't Peeta an artist? He would be even more visual than most."

Katniss's angry expression faltered slightly. "He does have an eye for beauty."

"Well there is no need to look so disheartened. You aren't unattractive, you know."

Though Katniss did not possess Lajjo and Primada's delicate ethereal beauty, Effie privately considered the darker girl more striking. Had Katniss bothered to play up her naturally glowing skin and those lovely grey eyes with regular make up, she would have given girls like Glimmer Khanna and Malini Dave a run for their money. But Katniss wasn't like that and perhaps, in a way, it was for the best as in the past, it had kept most no-good _luffangas_ from pursuing her.

Now, however, things were a little different. Now a boy was involved – a Nice Boy who managed to make Katniss smile the way Primada and that cad Galjeet once did. What Katniss needed was to make an impression – to stamp an irrevocable memory of herself on Peeta's heart.

Effie dusted off the box with an old rag and opened the lid, pulling out the outfit, nestled between layers of white tissue paper.

The top of the _churidar_ suit, a piece from designer Cinna Paul's _Honeymoon Collection_, was tight, form fitting and sleeveless – a deep, rose-pink shade with a sweetheart neckline and white and gold flowers embroidered in delicate, swirling patterns over the bodice and the knee-length skirt. The beauty of the kurta's design lay in the back, which was entirely non-existent, except for flimsy gold strings that held it together, tied at the shoulders, waist and hips.

Cinna, who owned a boutique on Nepean Sea Road, had taken one look at Katniss and then come out with the outfit, begging her to try it on even though Katniss had asked for something in blue – her then-fiance's favourite colour.

"Trust me," Cinna had told her gently. And, for some reason, despite her apprehension about how much skin she would show, Katniss had.

Even she had been surprised by how beautifully the deep shade of pink set off against her skin, bringing out the honeyed tones of a complexion that Katniss had always considered too dark to be pretty.

Effie observed an odd mix of expressions cross Katniss's face as she looked at the kurta – a brief tinge of pain, a shiver of apprehension perhaps and then, as if contemplating something, a slight smile. Her fingers reached out to touch the silky bodice, the layer of tulle that made up the knee-length skirt, and fisted just short of reach.

"I can't wear that _here_," Katniss said, sounding exasperated and a little grumpy. "Ma and Haydar Uncle would notice at once. It'll just be weird and awkward."

"Do you think I'm a fool?" Effie scoffed. "If you have even the tiniest bit of interest in that boy, you will wear that outfit this evening. And leave your hair down. I'll take care of everything else."

It wouldn't be too hard to get Lajjo Bhabhi on board with the plan. As for Haydar? Effie knew exactly how to handle him.

**kpkpkp**

**Two hours later…**

Had Peeta Mellark been more familiar with Indian soap operas (especially the sort produced and directed by a certain K-loving daughter of a former Indian superstar with a penchant for white pants) or Indian family melodrama in general, he might have been a little less startled by the scene playing before him in his host's living room.

"You don't love me anymore!" Effie was wailing at her husband, her face streaked with tears. "When we married, you would take me out all the time! Now all you want to do is sit at home or go smoke cigars with your friends at the Gymkhana!"

Peeta did not understand how a simple conversation about the weather – "Isn't it absolutely lovely outside?" Effie had begun – and going to the movies – "Isn't Luck by Chance playing in the theatre today?" – had turned into World War 3 between Katniss's aunt and uncle.

Part of him wanted to find a bed to crawl under and hide the way he did as a kid, when his mother went on a rampage against his father or brothers.

It was Raju, the young servant boy, who'd centered Peeta at this point, whose smirks and wide-eyed glee brought to Peeta's attention the slightly fake and cartoonish nature of Haydar and Effie's fight. Peeta tried not to laugh when, unseen by Haydar and Effie, Raju leapt around in the kitchen, moving his mouth in time to Effie's screams and waggling his hands over his head, crudely, but accurately imitating Katniss's hysterical aunt.

"Effie. Pet. _Jaanu_." Peeta had not seen Haydar look this flustered in all the time he'd known him. "It's not like that. Does it have to be tonight? It's not a special occasion is it? I haven't forgotten our anniversary, have I?"

Peeta winced as Effie's wails grew even louder, and wondered if it would finally succeed in bringing down Katniss from her room where she had been holed up all afternoon. But Katniss didn't appear to be coming downstairs.

Peeta contemplated going up to find her, when Haydar finally shouted: "OKAY! THEEK HAI! I'LL TAKE YOU TO THE MOVIES! NOW GET OFF MY BACK!"

Effie wiped her face with the edge of her purple sari. "Now was that so hard?" she said, sounding remarkably calm once again. While Haydar stomped off to get ready, Effie glanced at her reflection in the mirror hanging in the corridor.

"Dinner's in the kitchen, Peeta dear," she said brightly. "I hope you like aloo parathas!"

"I'm sure I will," Peeta said hastily, though he wasn't exactly sure what aloo parathas were.

Effie beamed. "Such a nice boy you are!"

Peeta couldn't help but watch, a little shell-shocked, how within the next thirty minutes, Effie (all freshened up and changed into a new sari) dragged her grumpy husband out to his car. Moments after they left, Katniss's mother came down the stairs, dressed in a simple salwar-kurta and carrying a bag.

"I have a house call to make. One of our neighbours is having a baby," she said. "So it will be just you and Katniss for dinner."

"Should we keep something aside for you?" Peeta asked, puzzled. From what Katniss had been telling him, her mother rarely if ever left the bungalow.

Lajjo smiled. "I will be fine. It might be several hours before the baby is born. It'll be pretty late when I come home."

Once Lajjo left in an auto-rickshaw, Peeta glanced at Raju, the only other person left in the house. "Do you have to go somewhere, too?"

"I go in fifteen minutes!" Raju said.

"Right," Peeta muttered. "Right." Had he not been cock-blocked by Katniss's uncle for the past two days, he would have been sure this was some sort of set up.

Peeta looked at Raju, who was looking at him expectantly, as if hoping for an early dismissal. But he hesitated, not sure if he had the authority to do so. He glanced at the ceiling. Katniss still showed no signs of coming downstairs.

Peeta sighed, deciding to ask Raju a question to pass the time. Over the past couple of days, he'd learnt a lot more about the boy, who turned out to be quite a chatterbox now that his fears of imminent dismissal had subsided. Remembering what Katniss had said about Raju's living conditions, Peeta secretly tipped the boy with a few rupees now and then, once even giving him a few extra cheese buns he'd baked for the family.

Katniss, who had caught him in the act this morning, had looked at Peeta as if she had never seen a man before. "You're amazing," she'd said quietly, seconds before Haydar had shown up in the kitchen and dragged Peeta off to play chess.

Maybe that had pissed her off? Peeta wondered a little miserably. Then he shook his head and turned his attention back to the teenage boy staring at him expectantly.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Raju? A _mashooka_?"

Raju snickered. "Oh no. No mashooka for Raju. But there is a girl near my house in Dharavi. Uff, what a _pataka_!"

"_Pataka_?"

"You know…like on Diwali…um, firecracker," Raju explained.

"So that's what you call a girl when you find her hot?" Peeta asked, amused.

"Oh yes! You can also call her _chamiya, chammak-challo_, _phuljhadi,_" Raju began listing out the words.

"Woah, woah! What does all that mean?"

"Um, hot, sexy, sex-bomb? Something like that maybe?"

Peeta grimaced. He was pretty sure those words would probably end up getting the kid a few smacks… unless the girl liked him of course.

"But wait." Raju grinned. "Why are you asking? You want to know how to talk to Katniss memsaab?"

Peeta felt his face heat up. Damn, was he that transparent? He laughed a little. "Um, I don't think your Katniss memsaab would like it if I called her ... all that."

"Oh no, no, no!" Raju shook his head vehemently. "Girls like Katniss memsaab – they don't like being called those things at all. They are _phemnist_ types."

"Phem…you mean feminist?"

"Yah, _phemnist_. If you call her those things, she will beat you with her sandal," Raju said, quite seriously.

Peeta laughed. Okay. So maybe the kid wasn't all that stupid. "So tell me. What do I call someone like Katniss memsaab?"

Raju looked thoughtful for a moment, his gaze moving around the room, falling somewhere behind Peeta's shoulder. His mouth widened in a smile.

"_Khoobsurat_," he said simply.

"What does that…" Peeta's voice trailed off, the strange gleam in Raju's eye catching his attention.

He turned around. And for a second forgot how to breathe.

It was Katniss. Finally. After all those hours, wearing a sleeveless, knee-length rose-coloured top, her slender legs encased in matching leggings. She wore silver bangles on her wrists and her ebony hair was long and loose, gathered and tucked carefully over one shoulder. Her feet, normally in rubber flip flops indoors, were bare, except for the tiny silver ring on her second toe.

"Hi." Her eyes were shining, and her cheeks were nearly as rosy as her outfit.

_Khoobsurat_, he thought.

For the first time since he came to India, Peeta Mellark did not really need a translation.

**Kpkpkp**

Katniss shifted her weight from one foot to another, unnerved by the intense way Peeta was staring at her. Though the actual dressing up part hadn't taken much time at all, it had taken hours for Katniss to convince herself to do it.

_It would be weird dressing up like this with nowhere to go. She would be so obvious. She'd never done something like this for a guy before. _

Thought after doubtful thought kept piling on. She had nearly convinced herself out of the whole crazy idea, when the front door slammed shut and she heard her mother speaking to Peeta downstairs.

Something inside Katniss, the slightly reckless part that sometimes indulged in doing tequila shots with Johanna and breaking out into a bhangra in a nightclub, reached out and grabbed hold of the pink churidar Cinna had sold her all those years ago.

Tying the strings at the back of the kurta was a bitch, but then… with the way he was looking at her now – like she was beautiful and otherworldly – it was probably worth it.

"_Oooh, ankhon hi ankhon mein ishara ho gaya,_" Raju's nasal voice, raised in song, pierced through Katniss's nervousness. "_Baithe baithe jeene ka sahara ho gaya…ooooh!_"

"Raju, stop that!" Katniss said, scowling. "Shouldn't you be going home now?"

"Well you looking into his eyes, him looking into your eyes – doing all this talking-shalking with your eyes – what else am I supposed to sing?" Raju replied with a cheeky grin. "_Ankhon hi ankhon mein_, right memsaab?"

Katniss fought back a smile. "Get out! _Phut_!"

Raju grinned and, with a wink at Peeta, finally fled the room, whistling the annoying tune, until the door shut behind him.

Silence fell over the room once more. Katniss cleared her throat. A smile was playing on Peeta's lips. "You look beautiful. Going on a date?"

Katniss flushed. "Thank you. Um. No. No date. Just here. With you."

His laugh warmed her insides. "Well. I must be really lucky then. To have a _khoobsurat_ girl with me."

Katniss raised an eyebrow. "Where did you learn that?"

Peeta's grin faded. "Raju. Wait. Don't tell me it was something bad! If it was, I swear I didn't know –"

Katniss burst out laughing. "It wasn't," she said, finally when she caught her breath. "Oh God, you looked so scared, Peeta. No, khoobsurat is fine. It does mean beautiful, actually, so thank you. Or maybe I should say _dhanyavad_."

She mimicked Effie and gave him a regal little nod.

Peeta grinned. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. I really thought I was done for."

Katniss smirked. "Yeah, well, don't call me a _chamiya_. Or _chammak challo_. Or _phuljhadi_."

His face flushed slightly. "You heard that, eh?"

"Some of it." She leaped off the final stair. "Did Effie bua say dinner was in the kitchen?"

"Yeah she…yeah…"

She stilled for a brief moment, hearing the sharp intake of his breath as he took in the view of her back – smooth and bare, a delicate gold tassel nestled between her shoulder blades.

She turned her head over a shoulder, and felt her lips curve into a smile. "Are you coming?"

Peeta blinked a couple of times, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Coming?" He bit his lip and grinned. "Not yet, Katniss. But that can be arranged if you're interested."

Katniss instantly felt her cheeks grow several degrees hotter. "Ha!" she said, narrowing her eyes at him. She turned around so that she was facing him now. "You're not going to be _that_ lucky."

Peeta laughed and tugged his left ear. "Sorry. PJ."

Katniss smiled at him and looked back at the table where Effie had placed all the food in a large wicker basket. Her aunt had clearly thought of everything.

"Here, let me take that," Peeta said at once. His hands brushed her fingers – on purpose, she realized – as he took the basket from her, but she didn't really mind.

"So," he said, his face inches away from her. "We're going on a picnic, I take it?"

"Y-yeah," she replied a little breathlessly, before stepping away for a moment to compose herself.

He didn't seem to notice. "So where to? Oh wait, maybe we both should put on some shoes?"

"No need." Katniss tucked her hand into the arm he offered. "We're going up to the roof."

**XXXXXX**

**English translations for the Hindi words/phrases in the chapter:**

**Luffanga = A vulgar/cheap man**

**Sadhvi = Holy woman (Female equivalent of _Sadhu_) **

**Om Namoh Shivay = A meditative chant for Lord Shiva**

**Aloo Paratha = A paratha (buttery flat bread) stuffed with aloo (spiced potatoes)**

**Bhangra = An energetic folk dance from Punjab**

**Phut = Get lost!**

**Dhanyavad = Thank you **

**Little notes of interest:**

**As evident, Cinna Paul = Cinna, whose name I took the liberty of combining with well known Indian fashion designer Satya Paul. Satya Paul has various boutiques across India and abroad and makes exquisite (and expensive) saris. **

**The "certain K-loving daughter of a former Indian superstar with a penchant for white pants" that I briefly mention in this chapter is director Ekta Kapoor, daughter of Jeetendra. Ekta has produced and directed dozens of hit soap operas for Indian television, all of them beginning with the letter K. They are well known amongst Indian audiences for their high levels of melodrama, glycerin tears, and heavily made up vamps. **

**"Ankhon hi Ankhon mein," or the song Raju sings, is an adorable little black-and-white classic from the 1950s movie ****_CID_****. **


	12. Chapter 12

**_Dear friends: I'm now also on tumblr - tanbwrites. What do you guys think of the story so far? Let me know :)_**

**CHAPTER 12**

**A Rooftop Picnic**

The sky had nearly faded of colour by the time they stepped out onto the roof terrace of Haydar's bungalow, the reds and oranges of the setting sun giving way to a soft grey – the first brush of twilight, accompanied by a gibbous moon. The cool January breeze plucked out strands of Katniss's long hair and curled softly over her spine, sending goosebumps prickling across her skin.

"Are you cold?" Peeta's warm breath brushed her ear a second before his even warmer hand pressed against her back. "Do you want me to get you a blanket?"

Katniss shook her head, suppressing a quiver that had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the heat of his callused hand on the patch of skin between her shoulder blades and hips.

"I'll be fine once I get some food in me," she said.

She just wasn't used to backless churidars – though that wasn't the kind of thing you said to the person you wore the said churidar for. She could almost hear Johanna scolding her: _Stop acting like it's a bikini, Brainless._

"I'm just too used to plus forty temperatures," she joked. "Fifteen degrees feels like winter here. Though Prim tells me that's the equivalent of Canadian spring."

Peeta grinned, not looking the least bit cold, even in a thin, short-sleeved blue t-shirt. "That it is."

His hand, however, remained steady on her back and, for some reason, this soothed Katniss, even as she sensed the shifting energy of their interactions – ever since they'd both decided to give whatever was brewing between them a chance.

Peeta's soft whistle broke her out of her reverie. "Wow. This is really nice."

For the first time since they stepped out on the terrace, Katniss took a careful look around – and was surprised.

When Katniss was a child, she and Prim would often climb up to the third floor of Haydar's bungalow, where a roof terrace was located, the only open-air space that they knew of in Mumbai where the sounds of traffic and stray dogs remained relatively muffled – a space to watch the city lights from and smell the sea, to lie flat on an old mattress, observing the moon in its different phases.

That evening, however, the roof, or what she knew of it, was transformed – swept clean of the old mattress and dust. Two chairs and a little table had been set up in the corner, a battery operated lamp glowing in the dim light, next to a small vase that held a single red rose.

On closer examination, Katniss observed a little note nudged under the vase: _Cutlery and plates in basket. Clean up after yourselves! Love, Effie._

"I think I'm going to have to thank your aunt," Peeta said. "I think this has been the best set up date I've ever been on so far."

Katniss raised her eyebrows. "Who said this was a date?"

"Oh. So that's how we're going to play this time, are we?" Peeta narrowed his eyes, but Katniss could see they were twinkling. Slowly, he trailed his fingers down her back, circling a spot right above her tailbone. This time, she couldn't help it. She shivered.

"You play a dirty game, Prim's devar."

"Well, all's fair in love and war, Lucas's saali."

Love. There was that word again. A feeling he said he didn't feel yet.

She might have been angry at his boldness had the flush on his face not mirrored the heat on hers. His hand dropped back to his side, the smile on his face a little hesitant now.

"Did I cross a line?" he asked quietly.

Katniss exhaled and smiled. "No. You're a dirty player, but no lines were crossed."

He laughed this time, sincerely. "Well, enough with the games then and let's eat. I want to see what these aloo paratha things are."

"They're good," she replied. "Kind of like roti, but thick and buttery and stuffed with a spiced potato mash. We can eat them with the cholae – this chick peas curry here – and yogurt and mango achar."

There were other things too – a mildly spiced lamb _rogan josh_, cumin rice, and _rasagullas_ for dessert. They set up the plates and glasses, opened up hot containers of food and a bottle of homemade mango lassi flavoured with saffron.

"What? No beer?" Peeta joked, pouring the cool yellow liquid into a glass for her. "I thought Punjabis liked to drink."

"We can always raid my uncle's liquor cabinet later," Katniss offered. "Johanna figured out how to break open the lock when she first came to visit."

Peeta's mouth fell open.

"What? I'm not _that_ pure," Katniss teased. "Haydar Uncle trained both me and Prim to drink a little before we went off to college." She twisted her face to match Haydar's typical grouchy expression "'So that no _gandu_ can mix anything in your drink without you realizing it.'" She said, doing her best to make her voice deeper and more Haydar-like.

Peeta shook his head and laughed. "Your uncle really is something."

"I know," Katniss paused before adding, a little sheepishly: "He – my whole family – can be a handful at times."

"That's what all families are like, aren't they?" Peeta broke off his paratha and mimicked Katniss, eating it with the cholae. "And honestly, I don't really blame him. I mean, if I was in his place, I'd probably do the same thing. He loves you, Katniss. He cares. I would be worried if he didn't."

Peeta's blue eyes were sincere and the way he spoke about her family comforted Katniss.

"Although," he added, a teasing glint returning to his eyes, "I sure am glad you're _not_ my niece. Or I'd be in serious trouble."

"What? Why? Do I look like a troublemaker to you?" Katniss teased, feigning ignorance over what he just said.

Peeta smirked. "I'd be in trouble because I'd want you to myself. Though, if you think of it, incest can be kind of hot…"

"Okay! Okay! You win this round!" Katniss took a quick gulp of her lassi, to cool her flaming cheeks. Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "But this isn't over yet."

A part of Katniss – the hesitant, cynical part that still did not believe in happy endings – was a little stunned at how easy it was to banter with him, despite her embarrassment; how much she liked talking to him in this way. For all the time they'd been together, Katniss could not recall when she'd actually _flirted_ with Galjeet. They'd joked around plenty, but Katniss had never experienced the sort of energy that seemed to accompany her exchanges with Peeta – an electricity that both unnerved and warmed her at the same time.

What she'd had with Galjeet was a friendship, she realized. An easy, comfortable friendship that had really not changed all that much – had never deepened the way it should have – even after they'd started dating.

"I look forward to the next round." Peeta told her now. Her heart skipped a beat at the promise she heard in his husky voice. His blue eyes looked clear, almost icy in the moonlight. Instinctively, she reached forward to brush the waves of silvery-blond hair that had fallen over his forehead, so she could see them more clearly.

She didn't realize that she had done anything until she felt the soft _hush_ of his breath on her wrist. Her hand fell back into her lap. He was staring at her with an expression she had never seen before. Then he shook his head and smiled.

"And you say _I'm_ the one who plays dirty."

**kpkpkp**

"Prim and I came here all the time as kids," Katniss told Peeta. "After she left for Canada, I used to come here sometimes, right after work, if I couldn't fall asleep."

They were sitting side by side on a blanket (also included by Effie in the basket), staring out at the city skyline – all lit up in the dark – and the moon that hung overhead.

Peeta quietly studied Katniss, whose long hair was now completely covering her back and shoulders, her arms tightly hugging her knees to her chest. He was tempted to wrap an arm around her and pull her close, but his instincts told him to hold back a bit, and let her make the next move.

"Papa always said that the open air was the best place to practice music." Her voice turned soft, probably from being lost in a memory, but for once Peeta detected no pain in it. "The housing colony we lived in wasn't much, but it did have a roof terrace on the top of our building. Each morning, before sunrise, Papa would pick up his harmonium and carry it to the terrace to practice his scales. Later, I would go with him, too. Just so that I could hear him sing."

"Do you still do this sometimes?" Peeta asked her gently.

"Oh no." Katniss laughed, as if embarrassed. "I haven't practiced in years; I'm so rusty! I'm sure you heard how bad I sounded at Prim's wedding."

"You're joking, right?" Peeta still remembered the lilting melody, rendered in her sweet, pure voice, how it had transfixed not only him, but everyone else in the hall. "Katniss, I'm not exaggerating, but I'm pretty sure that even the birds stop to listen when you sing."

Katniss's looked startled, her clear grey eyes widening for a brief moment. "That's what they said about my father," she said after a pause.

"Well, you are his daughter, right? Look, I'm no music expert so I know nothing about pitch and tone and all those technicalities. I just know what I like. And even though I didn't understand a word you were singing, I could still feel the song somehow. My old art prof used to say that the best paintings make you feel something. I think that's true of pretty much any kind of art form. When you were singing that song, I felt passion, joy and even hope, at times."

He fell silent when he saw the slight smile curving her lips. "You really did, huh?" The nonchalant tone of her voice didn't fool him.

"Maybe…this is just a suggestion, so feel free to ignore it all you want, but maybe you should start singing again."

Katniss sighed. "Singing doesn't pay the bills."

Peeta shrugged. "Maybe not. But it makes you happy, doesn't it?" He hesitated for a moment before adding on the rest: "My art helps me remember things."

Katniss frowned and turned to look at him questioningly.

"After…well, after Rye, we all went through a pretty rough phase. Grieving, dealing with Mom's case. And all that. As the years went on, and things started settling down, I woke up one morning just realizing that I barely remembered Rye's face anymore. How his nose curved up ever so slightly, the little scar on his left cheek that he got from a wrestling match. I had to dig through old albums and pull out a picture of him to remind myself again."

Peeta took a deep breath, pushing through the painful memory to face Katniss again. "What I'm saying Katniss is maybe you can use singing to remember your dad. What he looked like, what his voice sounded like in the morning, right before sunrise. The ones that love us never truly leave us."

Katniss smiled at him, but her eyes were still sad. "Did you just quote Dumbledore?"

"I did," he admitted. "But it's true. Or at least in some ways I feel it is."

Katniss said nothing. She stared up at the sky, as if looking for something – a star? He wondered – before releasing a deep breath.

This time, Peeta didn't really think, his arm moving of its own accord, wrapping itself around her. Katniss leaned in as well, resting her head on his shoulder.

It was then that he heard her whisper: "Maybe you're right."

**kpkpkp**

"Can I see you?" Katniss indicated to his prosthetic. Peeta's artificial limb had always made her curious – even though she'd been careful about not staring too long at it. "If you don't mind…Oh you mind, don't you? Forget it. It was stupid –"

"No, no, Katniss." Peeta sighed, though he still looked a little worried. "I'm just…I've never really shown anyone my leg, so I was just a little surprised."

Katniss was about to tell him to let it be when he rolled up the leg of his faded jeans, exposing the prosthetic.

Katniss stared at it for a moment. "Can I…?"

"Go ahead." His light chuckle comforted her somewhat and she brushed a hand over the smooth fibre-glass limb, curiously examining the paddle-like shape of the foot that she'd observed marveling at how it bent to accommodate Peeta's movements.

"It isn't exactly pretty," he joked, but Katniss could sense the vulnerability in his voice. Tenderly, she stroked the skin above the knee, where the prosthetic ended, feeling the coarser blond hair that covered his thigh.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, not missing the slight hitch in his breath. "When it's been on too long?"

"It chafes at times," he admitted. "Like a shoe maybe. But I'm definitely more comfortable without it when sleeping or taking a bath."

She nodded, not moving her hand from the spot. Without thinking too much about it she pressed her lips to the skin there. A quick, light butterfly kiss, not dissimilar to the ones she gave Prim when she'd hurt herself.

Only kissing Peeta felt nothing like kissing Prim, even if it was on his knee. She felt a little light-headed and oddly flushed, as if the kiss had somehow become something more than just a brush of skin against skin.

Peeta exhaled sharply, his blue eyes darkening with lust and something else that Katniss could not quite identify. "Katniss…" He quickly placed a hand over hers to prevent her from moving away. "Is it okay if I ask you a question?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Is there a reason you dressed up today?" He was studying her carefully, a mix of emotions on his face. "I mean…not that you don't always look nice. It's just that –"

"I know," she said. Her heart was racing. "I'm not known for looking like…well, this." She gestured at the pink churidar and smiled a little, hoping she could deflect her sudden uneasiness with a joke.

A small line appeared between his blond brows. "I didn't mean it like that. I just…" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm being totally silly. You probably like dressing up from time to time and I was just –"

"I didn't want you to forget me." The reason slipped out of her mouth, ceasing the rush of nervous words from his. She looked away from him, her cheeks heating.

"What?"

"That's why I wore this outfit; why Effie bua did all _this_." She gestured to the table behind them. "So that you wouldn't forget me after going back to Canada."

For a long, horrible moment, he said absolutely nothing. Then, all of a sudden, he began to laugh, which made her feel even more idiotic. Since the ground wouldn't swallow her whole, Katniss did the next best thing and buried her face in her hands.

"Katniss. Katniss, don't be like that. Look at me, will you?" Gently tugging her hands away from her face, he urged her to turn sideways. His blue eyes were shining and full of warmth.

"Katniss, I was drawing pictures of you before I even met you. I've been drawing you for about four years now. I think if I had any forgetting to do, it would have happened already by now."

She was surprised when his face reddened. "If that doesn't say how much of a goner I am, I don't know what does. If anything, I should be worried about you forgetting me."

Yet, underneath the joke, Katniss detected a hint of seriousness – as if he truly did believe she could forget him. As if it was even possible.

"You expect _me_ to forget _you_?"

"Yeah, well. It happens sometimes," he said simply, without an ounce of self-pity. "I won't blame you if you do. You're a special woman, Katniss. You probably didn't notice, but there were guys who were staring at you at the wedding – even when you weren't singing. There's every likelihood that someone else could pursue you here in Mumbai. You could fall for him. As for me – I'd be out of sight, out of mind, remember? Just another admirer, from a distance."

Katniss's insides twisted. She could hear the words between the lines. _You don't need me_. But what if she did? Katniss stared at him, cursing her own inability to express herself. Her call centre boss always liked to say that Katniss had the charm of a dead slug.

But the one thing Katniss was good at was taking action. Steeling herself, she turned to face him. "Are you in pain right now?"

Peeta frowned. "No…why?"

"Because what I'm about to do next is definitely _not_ because I pity you."

And with that, she slid her hands over his cheeks, barely registering the light stubble, before pressing her lips to his. She tasted sugar, a faint trace of spice. Heat spiraled to her centre when he returned the kiss, sliding those big hands of his under her hair to stroke her bare back.

"I don't know if what I feel for you is love," she told him when they broke away to catch their breaths. "But whatever it is feels pretty strong. Not as easy to forget."

Her fingers lightly stroked the curls at the nape of his neck, feeling a shiver course through him.

"Katniss." He licked his lips. "Can I kiss you again?"

In answer, she pulled his head back to hers. This time, he was ready, capturing her lower lip in his mouth, gently angling her face so that their noses didn't bump. She inhaled sharply through her nose, unwilling to part even for a moment from lips that were soft and hard, tender and hungry all at once. When he stroked her tongue with his own, she moaned. Pecking her quickly on her lips, he traced the line of her jaw, up to her ear, reaching out to kiss a spot behind her lobe.

_Ya. Rab. _

Katniss traced the long lines of muscle flanking his spine with one hand; with the other, the curves of his abdomen, her fingers brushing lightly over a nipple. She felt his moan against her skin before she heard it. His hands, which had been roaming her bare back now lightly tugged at the strings at the very top of her outfit.

"Can I touch you?" he asked softly.

She shivered at the look in his eyes, the mix of lust and adoration she saw there.

"Nothing below the waist," she said. "I don't…I don't want to go all the way."

"Neither do I. Not yet anyway." One hand reached out to cup her cheek, stroking it with a thumb. "We don't have to do anything even now. I don't want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

He meant what he was saying. Katniss could see that. It was perhaps this – this mix of tenderness and sincerity she saw in his eyes – more than any fear of him leaving in a couple of days, that made her turn around and pull her hair forward, offering her back to him.

"Katniss?"

"Yes. Yes, Peeta."

_Please touch me. _

And so he did, undoing the strings of her blouse with careful fingers, tracing kisses over her spine. He turned her back around, his hands hovering at the shoulder straps of her top. His eyes were looking into hers. _Are you sure?_

She nodded, shrugging out one arm, then another.

The fabric made a swishing sound as it slid down her body, baring her torso to his gaze. For long moments he just stared at her, as if studying the curves and dips of her body, until finally looking back up into her eyes and kissing her lightly on her lips. Only a thin rim of blue surrounded his pupils

"You're stunning. Every bit of you."

Easing her back on the blanket, he finally began to touch her – a finger carefully tracing the dip of her navel before trailing up the centre of her abdomen, teasing the undersides of her breasts before slowly cupping them in hands that felt both gentle and slightly rough. Years later, she would still remember this – the cool air and moonlight bathing her downy skin, the white-gold waves of his hair, the wet flick of his tongue on her nipple that made her arch and cry out his name.

When his mouth closed over the dark tip and sucked, she closed her eyes. Heat pulsed between her legs. She wanted him to touch her there, to forget whatever she'd said about not touching her below the waist and take care of the growing ache at her core.

But Peeta did not forget. His hands never ventured below her waist, which he now held to keep her in place, his teeth lightly traced her sensitive nipples before tasting the curve of her breast with his tongue. "Velvet," he murmured. "Your skin is like velvet."

Had she not felt his erection pressing into her thigh, she might have not known he was affected at all. He kissed her mouth again, thoroughly tasting her this time. She slid her own hands under his shirt, feeling the skin stretched out over muscle wondering what it was like to touch him as well.

As if sensing her thoughts, he gently broke away and stripped off his shirt. She sat up, studying his torso the way he had studied hers, marveled at the pale, almost milk white skin, slightly flushed from arousal. She took her time, first kissing a vein up the side of his neck and lightly biting his ear, before tugging his nipples the way he'd tugged at hers.

Shivers coursed through him continually, his face twisted in a way that made her wonder if he was in pain. After a few moments, as if he could take no more, he helped her out of what remained of the pink top and pulled her onto his lap, their centres colliding, sending little bolts of shock up her body.

She rocked against him, feeling the coil in her belly suddenly snap. Stars erupted behind her eyelids and she cried out, her fingers digging into his shoulders. He cradled her close, murmuring soothing words in her ear until she came down from her high. When she found the courage to look at him again, she found him staring at her with the tenderest expression she'd ever seen on a person's face.

And that's when she realized why it looked so familiar. She had seen this before – seen another man looking at another woman the same way, right until the day before he died.

"Katniss, I –"

She pressed a hand to his lips. "Don't say it," she begged. "Whatever it is. Not yet."

Not with him leaving so soon. If he told her he loved her right now, she didn't know if she'd remain in one piece.

"Okay," he said, his voice a sigh against her lips. "But the next time, you're not stopping me."

Katniss didn't know how to answer that. As she shifted on his lap, she suddenly grew aware of the still-hard lump in his jeans.

"Did you…did you want me to?" she asked, fumbling with her words.

He smirked. "What about that no hands below the waist rule? Does it apply only to you? That's discrimination, isn't it?"

Katniss laughed, even though his words made her shiver. "I think I've already broken about a dozen of the rules I had set for myself since I met you four days ago."

Peeta smiled. "As tempting as the offer is…not now." He picked up his shirt and offered it to her. Gratefully, she put it on, the comforting scents of cinnamon, dill and Peeta encasing her.

"I'd help you back into your blouse, but that thing looks complicated. Had a hard time getting it off," he admitted.

"It's okay." She fiddled with the hem of his shirt which was nearly up to her knee. "This is more comfortable."

"Looks good on you, too," he said in a deep voice. When she looked up at him again, he sighed and lifted her off his lap. Once she was resettled on the blanket, he cradled her back to his chest, his steepled knees flanking her on both sides, his chin brushing her left temple.

She looked up again at the moon, reality slowly filtering in in the form of distant traffic sounds from the roads that lay beyond the roof and the bungalow and its surrounding garden. She brushed her hand against his forearm, holding on a little longer to the moment, allowing herself to be lulled by steady beat of his heart against her back.

"I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever," Peeta said.

"Me, too."

**XXXXXXXXX**

**So much for taking things slow, huh? ;) This was the longest chapter in this story yet! **

**Haydar uses the word ****_Gandu_****, which is Gujarati for "Crazy." Hindi, like English, often tends to borrow words from various other languages, including Gujarati, Urdu and sometimes even English. It's really funny at times, when you read a Hindi short story and sound out a word only to realize it's English transliteration! **

**_Rogan josh_ is a hearty North Indian curry with slow cooked pieces of boneless lamb - the Indian equivalent of Katniss's favourite lamb stew, without the raisins. **

**_Rasagullas _are white, spongy ball shaped dumplings (gullas) immersed in _ras_ (a clear sugar syrup). They are native to West Bengal, but very popular all over India. **

**_Ya. Rab._ = Oh. God.**


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

**Real or Not Real?**

Peeta's last day passed in a whirlwind of activity. Haydar, who gave both Peeta and Katniss suspicious looks when they ventured down the stairs that morning, announced that no one in the family was going anywhere that day – "I have some friends from the Gymkhana coming over. You can keep us company, Boy. One of them wants to know about the whole Canadian PR process."

Effie had some people coming over as well, which meant the house was fairly busy, leaving no time for Katniss and Peeta to be alone together. The way he'd touched her last night – _and_ kissed her earlier this morning in the corridor before they came downstairs – Katniss wasn't exactly sure she _could_ be alone with him right now without being constantly flushed and on edge.

It was bad enough that she'd been cornered by Effie and her mother the moment Peeta went off with Haydar, the two women inquiring in detail about how her date had gone last night.

"He was a gentleman, wasn't he?" Effie said, giving her a stern look.

Of c-course he w-was." Katniss felt the tips of her ears grow hot the way they always did when she was hiding something. "It went r-really well."

"How well?" Effie demanded. "I am not going to have any little blond babies toddling around this house a few months from now, am I?"

"Bua!" Had she her mother's complexion, Katniss's face would have resembled a tomato. We didn't go that far!"

"Are you sure? I have some herbs you can take if you need, Katniss," Lajjo said quietly. "You know, in case…"

"_Nothing_ happened, Ma. How old do you think I am?" Katniss pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks. "God, this is embarrassing! Neither of you gave me this lecture when I was with Galjeet."

"That was different," Effie said dismissively. "You weren't nearly as goo-goo-eyed around him."

"What your Effie bua means to say is that it is very obvious how attracted you and Peeta are to each other," Lajjo said, interrupting Katniss before she could snap at her aunt. "Things can happen."

"Peeta is decent," Katniss said. "He wouldn't take advantage of me."

"Yes, _beta_, but he is still a young man who is very attracted to you." Lajjo patted Katniss's cheek. "We know your generation is a lot more modern than ours, but we still need to make sure you're taking the right decisions and being safe."

"I know," Katniss said, her shoulders slumping. She looked up at her mother. "Ma, how did you know Papa was the one?"

Instead of growing sad, the way she'd expected, Lajjo's blue eyes brightened, the creases around her eyes deepening as she smiled. "I felt safe around him. I felt like I could be myself and he wouldn't judge me for it. I wanted to be with him all the time."

Effie sighed. "How romantic!"

Katniss frowned. "I feel those things when I'm with Peeta. But I also feel scared," she admitted.

"Love _is_ scary, Katniss. It exposes you to the concept of loss, which is the scariest thing of all. It also brings forth great joy. Loving your father nearly broke me when he died, but I would do it all over again if I had the chance. He gave me you and Prim. He still lives through the both of you."

Katniss nodded. She knew she hadn't loved Galjeet the way her mother had loved Papa. She could admit that to herself now. If Galjeet had died, she would have grieved, but she would have been able to pick herself up and eventually move on.

As for Peeta – imagining him dead brought forth a different feeling. A brick pressed to her ribs, a sharp prick at the throat. Katniss remembered being a child once more and burrowing in the old cupboard in her parents' bedroom under the velvet green waistcoat her father wore to his performances, trying to convince herself that the man who died was someone else. _Not him, not him, not him_.

When she swallowed, her throat felt raw.

An hour later, she caught Peeta on his way to the bathroom. "Meet me at midnight," she whispered. "On the roof."

**Kpkpkp**

Midnight couldn't come soon enough for Peeta. After spending the whole day under Haydar, Effie and Lajjo's supervision – _and_ Haydar and Effie's friends who asked him all kinds of questions about Canada and Toronto – he lay in the guest room bed, waiting, ready to be alone with Katniss again.

Peeta couldn't help but smile a little at the memory of Katniss from last night – how lovely and flushed she'd looked. He thought – hoped really – that they were getting somewhere; she'd definitely not shied away from returning his kiss this morning. Though he could never be too sure with Katniss. She had been busy all day, helping Effie and her mother with house chores and, later, keeping the guests supplied with copious amounts of tea.

He caught her looking at him from time to time during lunch and dinner – quick, timid glances that flitted away before he could fully return them. Peeta couldn't tell if she was simply avoiding his gaze because they were in front of her family or if she was having second thoughts about their relationship.

The latter thought made him panic a little. Things _had_ happened quickly between them. It had taken days – almost a month, really – before Peeta had even kissed his old girlfriend. But with Katniss, it felt different. They might have known each other a few days, but Peeta felt like he'd known her his entire life. There was a different sort of connection between them. A soul connection, he thought. He hadn't felt anything like it before.

Minutes before the clock struck twelve, Peeta slipped out of bed. Peeta didn't have the lightest tread in the house – Katniss often teased him about sounding like a baby elephant – but that night, even with the clunking prosthetic, Peeta made little to no sound.

When he reached the roof, he found Katniss leaning against the railing, her long braid hanging to her hips, a cream-coloured shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

"Are you all packed?" she asked when he approached.

"You heard me?" he asked disbelievingly. "You must have bionic hearing."

She turned to look at him and smiled. _There she is_, he thought with relief. _There's that smile._ "That's what my uncle says. Though you aren't really quiet, you know. I could never take you hunting. Every animal in a ten mile radius would hear you coming."

Peeta smirked. "I'd make good prey though, wouldn't I?" He leaned closer so that he could see fine lines of her grey irises. Her pupils widened. "You could always hunt me."

"I'm no longer sure if I'm the one who's doing the hunting now," she said, lightly smacking him on the chest. He caught her hand in his and held it to his heart, which had started beating rapidly, the way it always did when he was close to her. Her fingers curled around the fabric of his t-shirt.

"Is that a line?" he murmured before pulling her in for a kiss. "Because it's working."

Katniss stiffened for a moment, then melted, sighing against his lips. "You're leaving tomorrow," she said.

"I'm also coming back," he said, tilting her face up so he could narrow his eyes at her playfully. "In three months. I'm not letting you go _that_ easily."

Katniss still looked a little worried though, almost as if she didn't believe him. "What's it like? In Canada?"

"Cold," he said, at once, and she laughed. "Colder than here, obviously. There was a lot of snow before we flew out. It's big. The roads are wider, not as crowded. But the people aren't as warm. I mean they're polite and everything – there's a joke that most Canadians will tell you we're sorry even if you were the one at fault – but people mostly keep to themselves."

"You mean they're non-interfering," Katniss said, rolling her eyes. "_And_ they have a concept of personal space."

Peeta laughed. "I dunno. I kind of like this better." He gestured to the city lights in the distance. "I feel like people care a lot more here, you know. But then, it probably feels like that because I'm on vacation."

"It does," Katniss said, looking a little sad. "Otherwise it's no different from living anywhere else. There was a time when if a girl was eve-teased on the street, a crowd would converge on a man groping her. But now you could scream all you want and no one would care. They'd just go about their business. If you died, you'd just helping to reduce the population."

"That's a pretty negative viewpoint," he pointed out. "Surely there are good people out there."

"There are, but very few," Katniss said, not looking at him, but at the lights and Peeta sensed that she was thinking of her uncle, who'd swooped in to save her and Prim and Lajjo from turning destitute.

"Well, speaking of Canada, Haydar told me that you were planning to go to school there," he said, changing the subject. "In Vancouver?"

"He told you that?" Katniss looked surprised. "Well, yes, I did, but it was a really long time ago. Urban forestry. I liked the idea of working somewhere that wasn't a concrete jungle."

"There are courses for that in Toronto, too," he said, trying to stay casual. "They also have an Urban Forestry department in the City. If you were interested in that sort of thing."

She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Are you trying to tempt me into moving to Canada?"

He shrugged. "It was an idea. Or I could move to Mumbai. Open up a pav bhaji stall. My buns would beat your pavs hollow."

"And the government red tape would beat _you_ hollow," Katniss told him. "Things aren't that easy here, Peeta. Just so you know. Getting permits and stuff – you have to grease a lot of palms if you want things to move quickly."

He nodded. He'd been hearing stories about that from some of Haydar's male friends, who'd complained about having to pay off clerks in the government. "From top to bottom!" the man had declared. "There's corruption everywhere!"

"Maybe there is," Peeta said now. "But I can figure something out. I think we have a shot at something here, Katniss. Something long-lasting. Everything else is just logistics."

"Just logistics, huh?" He was glad that some of the worry on her face had been replaced by amusement. He knew that Katniss had a rough time trusting people – especially men. For someone like her, words wouldn't be enough.

Actions were more important. It would take time, patience and dedication to convince Katniss Singhania to let him be a part of her life. Peeta was looking forward to the challenge.

"I want to spend every moment of the time I have left in India with you. I want to stay in touch with you even after that." he said truthfully. Then, after a pause: "You like me – real or not real?"

She stared at him for a long moment. "Real," she said.

He wrapped her up in his arms, knowing that it would be the last time in a long while that he'd be able to hold her. "Then we'll figure something out. Together."

**kpkpkp**

**_February_**

"Tan-haaa-yeeeeeeee!" Johanna's loud, off-key voice made Katniss grimace – not to mention her choice of song. "Dil Ke Raaste Mein Kaisi Thokar Maine Khaayi…"

"Stop it!" Katniss hissed, trying to ignore the looks they were getting from other runners in Jogger's Park. A group of senior citizens from Bandra's Laughter Club burst into cackles when Johanna passed them – still singing – "Toote Khwaab Saare, Ek Maayusi Hai Chhaayi, Har Khushi So Gayi, Zindagi Kho Gayeeeeee…Tumse jo – _Uumph!_ Gandu!" she shouted at Katniss. "Did you have to hit me?"

"Well you wouldn't shut up," Katniss increased the pace of their run. "Why on earth were you singing that depressing song anyway?"

It wasn't a bad song, really. Katniss liked the singer – the real one, not Johanna – but she really didn't need to be reminded of an angsty _Dil Chahta Hai_ Aamir Khan lamenting over how lonely he was without Preity Zinta in his life. At least not now when every other hour a little pang ran through her chest when she thought about a certain blond Canadian who, by the estimate of her wristwatch, would be waking up for work in another five hours or so.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do when you're acting all grumpy and moody?" Johanna gasped, trying to keep up with the smaller woman. "Okay, stop will you? I'm getting a stitch in my side. I promise I won't sing the damn song."

They stopped by a copse of trees by the side, making sure they weren't in the way of the other runners in the park. Johanna plopped onto the grass and rolled her water bottle over her face. "Aah. Finally…"

"We barely made three rounds, Johanna," Katniss reminded her friend. "You can't be that tired already.

"Yeah, but usually you keep a pretty consistent pace and don't act like you're bloody PT Usha trying out for the bloody Olympics!" Johanna shot back. "What's the problem? I came over to see you on my weekend off from work and you've been acting like you've lost your best friend. Did you and pretty boy have a fight?"

"Of course not," Katniss said. "I just miss him sometimes."

Johanna gave her a disgusted look. "Since when did _you_ turn into a cheese ball? Did he boink your brains out before leaving or something?" A second later: "OW!" Johanna rubbed her arm which was turning red from Katniss's smack. "Okay, fine, I deserved that. But, seriously, Kat. Never seen you act like this over a guy before."

Katniss shrugged.

It surprised her how easy and how simultaneously difficult it was to stay in touch long distance. Every morning, after her shift ended at the call centre, Katniss took a brief nap before waking up again at 7.30 in the morning (which translated to 9 pm in Canada, the previous day) to talk to Peeta for an hour, before going back to sleep again.

"We're time travelling," Peeta joked once about the time difference. "Through Skype, of course. Though I wish I could teleport myself there or bring you here."

"Like a portkey?" Katniss had joked back. "I don't know. Maybe I should see if I have an old shoe or something."

Skype, text, email, Facebook. It always surprised her how much they managed to talk so much – and about so many random things. Effie bua kept warning her how her sleeping patterns would get all messed up, and Katniss knew she was probably right. Though she couldn't explain why, every morning, the tinny ring tone blaring from her computer into her headphones sent a little shot of excitement through her. A whole month had passed by since he'd gone back to Toronto. A month since he left her with a tight hug at the airport and then sent her his first text from overseas.

It hadn't been all that easy. During the first two weeks, Katniss had tried to guard her heart a little, waiting for the day his calls would stop coming, when he would stop replying to her messages and emails. But then, one day, things changed. Katniss missed their usual Skype appointment, stuck in the middle of a traffic jam caused by a road accident. Her battery dying right after she managed to text Effie about the situation, Katniss hadn't been able to get in touch with Peeta until the next morning. He had been subdued when she explained herself, the relief on his face evident.

"I thought…" He shook his head. "I know it's silly, but I couldn't sleep all night…I know you'd never stand me up that way."

"I wouldn't," she promised. But seeing him this way made her realize that she wasn't the only one who was trying to keep up their guard when it came to their relationship. "We need to trust each other. Give each other a bit of time – a benefit of the doubt, so to speak."

Things had grown better since then. Katniss didn't worry (as much) when Peeta got held up at work – making wedding cakes and special order items for Valentine's Day – and Peeta didn't freak out when Katniss sometimes couldn't return his texts right away when she was at work.

"He sent me a gift for Valentine's Day," Katniss told Johanna now.

"Woah," Johanna's eyes widened. "What was it?"

Katniss hesitated for a second before pulling out the chain hidden under her t-shirt and the locket that came with it. Gold and shaped like a rectangle, the locket had a little bird engraved on the top, accompanied by her initials at the back.

Johanna hummed appreciatively. "18 karat or 21?"

"I don't know," Katniss said. "You're the expert on those things. But have a look at this." She opened up the locket, showing Johanna the tiny miniatures inside – one side containing a little portrait of Katniss's mother and Prim, painted by Peeta himself. When Katniss had first received the locket, the other side had been empty.

_ I wanted to draw your father,_ Peeta wrote her in the letter accompanying the gift,_ but I don't have his picture. Maybe you can put one in?_

Katniss did put a picture in and later texted Peeta the image. A week later, he'd sent her the scanned copy of a sketch. A life-size bust of her father, smiling the way he would have at a wedding before starting to sing.

_I'm going to send you the painted one soon. _He wrote._ But, this is just for now :)_

Katniss showed the picture to her mother, who grew very emotional and did not speak for an entire day. For a while, Katniss worried her mother had relapsed. But then Lajjo emerged from her room, smiling. "You better not let that boy get away."

Haydar who had also grown a little teary eyed after seeing the picture, shrugged before telling Katniss: "You could do worse."

And that was when Katniss knew that Peeta had earned her grouchy, disgruntled uncle's approval as well.

**kpkpkp**

**_March_**

When Katniss decided to hire Chunnilal Muffatlal Chaurasiya as her singing tutor, she knew exactly three things about him:

1. Twelve years ago, he was a sitar virtuoso and a talented vocalist, headed for a sure-fire career in Hindustani classical music.

2. Five years ago, he'd given up said career, dyed his hair and eyebrows a shocking electric blue, changed his name to Caesar Flickerman and briefly hosted a short-lived reality show called _Sa Re Drama Pa: India's Next Singing Superstar_ on Star Plus. (By the second season, the TRPs had plummeted so badly that the show was pulled off air after the third episode.)

3. Now, according to what Haydar had been telling Katniss, Chunnilal – or Caesar, as he insisted they call him – was penniless and desperate to earn an honest income. For this, he was willing to go back to the classical roots he had scorned so many years ago.

"He's okay," Haydar told Katniss. "A bit of an idiot, but possibly the best tutor you can get within your budget."

When Caeser showed up at their place (sans-hair dye, his hair and eyebrows were grey) he gave Katniss the sort of bright, charming smile that made her understand why he was hired as a TV show host in the first place.

_He smells like a flower garden,_ she wrote to Peeta later that night. _I'm pretty sure he uses rose-scented shampoo or something. _

The scent had filled small room they were using for practice, Caesar kindly but firmly correcting Katniss every time she went off tune for a song he'd given her to practice.

"It's hard," Katniss admitted to him. "I have a feeling I can't reach the high notes anymore."

Caesar _tsk_ed. "Of course you can. You just need a little more practice. You already have a good foundation of the ragas. Your last guruji taught you well."

"It was my father," Katniss said.

Caesar watched her carefully and smiled. "What was his favourite raag?"

"Bhairavi."

Caesar closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side, smiling. "_Wah, wah_. A morning person, was he? Well then, how about we try a song in Bhairavi? It might be a little tougher than what you are used to, but it will work all the same."

The song, _Albela Sajan_, by Ustad Sultan Khan consisted of a small verse, several lines repeated over and over again in different ways, accompanied with complicated aalaps and sargams. Caesar's heavy tenor, accompanied by Katniss's alto created a bewitching harmony, bringing Haydar out of his study and Lajjo and Effie from their rooms to listen in.

After Caesar left, Haydar had looked at Katniss and smiled. "I don't know what made you start singing again, but I'm going to personally keep paying that man to come here if he can bring that sort of music into the house."

Katniss said nothing. She remembered that night, nearly two months ago, on the roof, when Peeta had encouraged her to pursue singing again.

Katniss paused midway through her email to Peeta before starting to type again.

_I need to thank you. For suggesting that I start singing again. These days I'm practicing on the roof during the early evenings, before I leave for work. I even have a visitor: a dove that appears each time I start practicing my scales._

The dove – a pure, white pink eyed thing – tilted its head each time Katniss sang, almost as if it was a critic in the audience of a concert. Katniss found it adorable and had managed to snap a few pictures that she sent to Prim and Peeta.

A couple of weeks later, bored with the usual scales, Katniss decided to play a game with the dove. Johanna would have called it silly – ridiculous, really – but Johanna wasn't here.

"_Ja, Ja,_"

Her fingers pressed the keys of the harmonium: one, two, one, two.

"Ja, Ja"

One, two, one, two.

The dove tilted its head at each note, perking up as Katniss continued to sing:

_Kabootar ja ja ja_

_Kabootar ja ja ja_

_Pehle pyaar ki pehli chitthi _

_Saajan ko de aa_

_Kabootar ja ja ja_

_Kabootar ja ja ja_

After finishing the song, Katniss laughed at the bird. "Well then, go on! Go tell him that I love him!"

The bird blinked once, almost as if it understood, and flew away.

**kpkpkp**

A day later, over a continent and an ocean, a blond man stepped out in the alley behind a bakery on Church Street in Toronto, his breath a white cloud in the chilly air, a large trash bag in hand.

A gurgling sound – the sort made by pigeons distracted him. Pigeons? He wondered. In the winter? A white feather floated towards him as the bird flew away – a dove, he realized – over the rafters, into an open window of an apartment building. It was probably a pet or something, Peeta figured.

He bent over to pick up the feather and smiled.

Before heading back to the busy kitchen, he shot a text to a braided girl who had just fallen asleep after a long day at the call centre:

_I saw a dove today. You'll probably find this silly, but for some reason it reminded me of you. I miss you, Katniss._

An hour later, her reply came:

_You may find this even sillier, but I asked my dove to send you a message today. I miss you, too._

**XXXXXX**

**Okay, so this chapter was pure fluff! **

**Chunnilal Muffatlal Chaurasiya = Caesar Flickerman.**

**English translations of Hindi words/phrases:**

**_Beta = _Child**

**_Wah, wah_ = Wow (An expression of pleasure, usually made for art)**

**Little notes of interest:**

**The song Johanna teases Katniss with, "Tanhayee" (Loneliness) is from the 2001 movie ****_Dil Chahta Hai_****. While the movie itself is super fun (It's one of my all-time favourite Bollywood movies) this particular song is definitely angsty.**

**"Albela Sajan," the song Caesar teaches Katniss is a challenging and beautiful vocal exercise in the raag Bhairavi. The song appears in the movie _Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam._ **

**On the roof, Katniss sings the song "Kabootar Ja, ja, ja" from the 1989 movie ****_Maine Pyaar Kiya_****, where the heroine is pretty much singing to a dove, asking it to deliver a note to her lover. The movie is adorable (a best-friends-turned-to-lovers story) and it also has a rooftop scene. (I did say I'd be using every Bollywood trope in the book ;))**

**_Sa Re Drama Pa_ **** is NOT a real show and never appeared on Star Plus. There IS a show called _Sa Re Ga Ma Pa_ (formerly called _Sa Re Ga Ma_) on Zee TV – a televised singing competition that adopted more reality show-esque qualities as the years went by (It started in 1995). Sa Re Ga Ma and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa have produced some excellent singers – including host Sonu Nigam (who sang "Tanhayee"), Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan.**


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

**That Question about Marriage**

**_Late April_**

During his first visit to Mumbai, Peeta had been befuddled by the lack of traffic rules, often stumbling while crossing the road, once nearly getting hit by a car. Katniss had been so freaked out, she had berated him for several minutes – _What were you thinking? You could have been killed! _– before calming down.

This time, however, he fell into a rhythm of sorts, mimicking Katniss by holding up his hand, politely gesturing to a motorist he intended to cross, before snaking past the traffic on a busy intersection, along with a few other pedestrians.

"You can't be polite here," Katniss reminded him, when Peeta's mind went back to the road rules they followed so strictly in Canada. "If you wait for the traffic to pass you by, you'll never get anywhere."

He had to admit that it gave him a bit of a rush when motorists heeded his hand gesture and paused, not even honking at him when he crossed the street.

Little quirks about the city brought a smile to his face. The little flower garland on the back of Katniss's blue Honda scooter. Painters on pulleys outlining the eyes of an actress on a large billboard outside a theatre. Skinny dogs taking shelter next to a sleeping bullock by the sidewalk.

Chowpatty beach had also turned into a favourite spot of Peeta's – the first place he asked Katniss to take him to when he came back to see her. The way she'd hugged him – or rather flung herself into his arms so that he could lift her off the ground, without seeming to care that her whole family was watching them – sent a rush of happiness through him.

"No funny business," Haydar had said, eyeing the both of them. But he said nothing about joining them the following day and Peeta was relieved about that.

So now, here they were, on a quiet Sunday afternoon, the water splashing their bare feet, as they watched the gulls soar into the sky, white wings kiting the blue. Wrapping his arm tightly around Katniss's waist, he watched her face glowing in the sun and listened to her tell a story about her boss at the call centre, a man who she said was a walking-talking advertisement for Nirma washing powder.

"These days he's sporting this really weird beard. I think he probably goes to the barber every morning just to keep it in shape."

Peeta laughed as she mimicked her friends at the call centre who always hummed the Nirma washing powder commercial whenever their starchy, bearded boss entered the room.

"Do you use different names when you talk to clients?" Peeta asked. "I thought you didn't need to do that anymore."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "We don't, but Shiva – that's my boss – insists on it so that we're more _relatable_ to the clients. The minute the first phone rings, Shiva becomes Seneca, Tejas becomes Thom, Babita becomes Bristel, Lalita becomes Leevy and I become Katrina."

"Katrina? But you don't use an Indian name."

"He thinks Katniss is too weird. Don't ask why. But Tejas thinks it's because Shiva has a crush on Katrina Kaif."

Peeta smirked. "That's the actress isn't it? The one whose Hindi is like mine?"

Katniss smirked back. "No. Sadly, even you are better than she is."

"I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult."

"A compliment, trust me. Besides you're cute."

"Oh am I?" He laughed and nudged her nose with his before pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "I love you."

She flushed slightly before replying. "I love you, too."

The words had burst forth two weeks earlier on Skype – rather unexpectedly, without him planning anything. Katniss, who had been teaching Peeta some Hindi at his insistence, was teasing him about something he mispronounced. "You know you can get beaten up if you say it that way to someone."

Peeta couldn't even remember what the word was now. But he did remember feeling irritated then for some reason. Did she have to tease him when he was feeling idiotic?

"You're lucky I'm in love with you," he'd joked before realizing what came out of his mouth.

A dead silence had fallen over both their rooms. All he could hear was Katniss's quiet breathing and watch her on the screen, blankly staring somewhere off to the side. He began gathering the courage to take the words back, to say she didn't need to say anything in response when she'd bit her lip and said: "I think I'm in love with you, too."

"You think?" He'd asked, even though his insides had already started doing the bhangra. "You're not just saying it because I said it, right?"

"I don't think. I know," she'd smiled shyly at him. "I'm new at this. I've never said the words to anyone else before."

"Not even to…?"

"No." She shook her head and laughed a little. "We never talked the way you and I do. Maybe that should have clued me in to where the relationship was going, right? What about you? Have you said the words before?"

"No," Peeta said after some thinking. "I mean, she'd say she loved me and I'd say 'You, too,' but I never said them out completely. So I don't count that."

He had always been a little uncomfortable with the words, seeing the way his father spoke them to his mother. Janet, his old girlfriend, had been understanding to a point, but he could see the disappointment on her face whenever he gave her his half-hearted responses. They'd even fought about it once in college. It had been the beginning of their end.

Things were different with Katniss, though Finnick worried that Peeta was going too fast when it came to their relationship.

"She sounds like a great girl," Finnick had said about Katniss. "But maybe you should slow down a bit. You're way too intense at times, Peet. You don't want to scare her off."

Peeta would have – if slowing down had felt right. But when it came to Katniss, these things just seemed to happen naturally. Secret kisses, deep confessions, plans for the future. He couldn't predict if everything would work out in the long run, but Peeta trusted his instincts. The ones that told him that breaking up with Janet would be the right thing to do when everyone else told him he was making a mistake.

The instincts that were now telling Peeta to go for it and ask Katniss the question he'd come all the way to India for.

He guided her away from the water, towards the little hill by the corn stall, where they'd had their first kiss.

Peeta took a deep breath. "Katniss, can I ask you something?"

Her eyes widened with curiosity and then with shock as he dropped to one knee.

"Kya tum mujhse shaadi karogi?"

**Kpkpkp**

Katniss stared at the ring he pulled out of a small box: a platinum band with a single grey pearl in its centre.

"I know it's kind of simple," Peeta's voice was growing nervous now, faced with her continued silence. "But I got it because you seem to like pearls. I mean, you were wearing them in your hair at the wedding. Also I...I thought it matched your eyes."

"It's beautiful," she managed to say, smiling weakly, unable to give words to the sudden mix of joy and terror that now shot through her veins.

It was not that she didn't love Peeta. Hell, it was impossible _not_ to love him. But marriage? Thoughts of marriage led to thoughts of what happened five years earlier. To the empty space next to her on the mandap, before the priest and the family and all their guests.

Peeta rose to his feet and cupped her face in his hands. "Katniss? Katniss, you're pale. What's wrong?"

She looked at the worry on his face and felt disgusted with herself – at how broken she still was. "I don't want to say no," she said. "I'm just…wait don't be upset. Just let me …I need to get the words right."

Peeta waited patiently, while she explained her fears about being left behind at the altar. "It's just…it's such a big change. I've never been good with that – even if it was a good one," she admitted.

"I see." Peeta watched a gull float in the breeze for a moment, before turning back to her. "Would it help if you came to Canada?"

"Canada?"

"Yeah." Katniss was surprised to see the determination in his blue eyes. "I think I may have been a little hasty with the proposal. Though it doesn't _feel_ hasty – but that may just be part of the effect you have on me." He gave her a wry smile.

"Look just because I'm ready, it doesn't mean you are. I think that's perfectly okay and I'm not going to push you or give you a deadline to say yes. What I'm going to do is ask you to come visit me in Toronto next month for a couple of weeks. I'll take some time off to show you around. See if you like it there. See what it feels like to live with me, know me as a person. Just…please just don't say no yet, Katniss."

"I don't want to," she said. "I'm just scared."

"I know. I am, too, you know." He tilted her chin up so that she was looking right into his eyes. "This is the first time I've actually proposed to anyone – well, apart from the time I was five and asked my first grade teacher to marry me," he tried to joke.

She gave him a weak smile. "Can I think about it? The Canada trip, I mean?"

"Of course you can." Worry flashed in his blue eyes. "Did you mean it, Katniss, when you said you loved me?"

"I meant it." She pressed a firm kiss to his lips. "Just give me some time, okay?"

Katniss did not know about her feelings on marriage, even on moving to Canada. But one thing she knew for certain was that somehow, unexpectedly, within the last three months, she had fallen head over heels in love with Peeta Mellark.

**kpkpkp**

The looks on their faces when they returned home told Haydar more about what had happened between Katniss and Peeta than words ever could, though the the boy's face was a lot more eloquent in its disappointment. Haydar raised an eyebrow. _What happened?_

Peeta shook his head. _No success._

Oh damn.

Once Katniss trudged up to her room, Haydar nodded at Peeta. _I'll talk to her._

That evening, after dinner, Haydar stepped out on the roof to find Katniss there, alone, her father's old shawl wrapped around her shoulders. "What happened? Didn't like the ring?"

Katniss's head jerked back. She narrowed her eyes. "What? How did you know about that?"

"Prim and I helped him pick it out. I think he wanted to get that pesky thing called 'family approval' out of the way before proposing. He asked me, your mother and Effie about a month ago."

Katniss paled. "Ma and Effie bua know about this too?"

"That he planned to propose to you this trip? No. I didn't know either. But I had my suspicions. Especially when he kept giving me those pleading looks yesterday about letting you two go off alone. Have to say that the boy moves fast. Are you having second thoughts about him?"

"Not about _him_," she said irritably, with an affirmation that relieved Haydar somewhat. "About marriage. About moving to Canada."

Haydar sighed. The marriage topic was bound to come into question. But he decided to tackle the easier matter first. "What's the problem with Canada? It's a good country. You were certainly interested in going there once. Sure, it might be tough now that you're older. You might need to get a new degree and job and all, but there are lots of opportunities for you there. Besides, you'll be able to see Prim regularly. Wouldn't you like that?"

"But what about you? And Ma and Effie?" Katniss argued. "You'll be here all alone."

As tempted as Haydar was to make a snarky comment about this (he'd lived alone long enough before anyone had come into his life), he heard the fear underneath Katniss's bluster. Change wasn't easy for anyone.

"Well, what I think you should do is not really make any decision right now. All that money you keep saving up for getting Prim things? Use it on yourself for a change. Go visit the boy next month. Feel out the place. If you don't like it at all, then you and the boy can figure something else out."

"He has already offered to move here." Katniss shook her head. "I just…I don't know, but it feels wrong for him to uproot his life there. I don't want him to hate me if things don't work out."

"Well, _you_ could be uprooting your life here as well," Haydar reminded her. "Sweetheart, I love you like a daughter, but don't give me that crap about him hating you in the long run or things not working out before you even try anything. I know _that's_ what your real fear is. Not because some idiot jilted you five years ago." Though that had screwed her up good and proper for a while.

When Katniss's shoulders sagged, Haydar knew he was right.

"You don't _know_ what's going to happen," Haydar said, a little more gently. "Life doesn't work the way the planets dictate. No matter what a goddamn astrologer writes on your _kundali_. Who I should have asked for a refund based on the prediction he made for you giving birth to a bloody cricket team after marrying Galjeet."

Katniss smirked slightly at that. "You made bets at the Gymkhana didn't you? About having the next Sachin Tendulkar as a grandson?"

Haydar grimaced, refusing to answer that. (She was right, of course.)

"_Anyway_, all I know is that sometimes good things come in unexpected packages." Haydar thought of Effie and smiled. "You know I told him he could live a thousand lifetimes and never deserve you. But maybe I was wrong."

"I probably don't deserve him," Katniss fretted. "One minute I think about this and feel perfectly fine about it, then the next minute, I'm confused and scared."

"Which is a sign that you're thinking too much. Look, don't be upset, _beta_. Remember the first time I took you to hunt?"

Katniss nodded.

"Remember how you kept missing the big buck because you kept getting nervous about hitting him right the first time? You didn't want to cause him a lot of pain, but you still wanted to kill him with one shot." Haydar smiled, remembering sixteen year old Katniss crouched next to him, pointing a rifle at the large deer. "Remember what I told you then?"

"Don't think. Just shoot." Katniss laughed. "I guess that's what I should do now? Don't think, just say yes?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying you should allow yourself to cool down a bit. When you think too much, sometimes things get even more muddled. Go to Canada. Once. Twice. Thrice, even if you need that time to make a decision."

"Tickets to Canada are expensive," Katniss pointed out.

"And your life is priceless. If you need time to make a decision, take it. If you don't want to live there, say no. If you don't want to marry him, say no. No matter what other people may say, this is not your last hope for marriage or anything like that. If not this boy, then there'll be others. But don't make a rash decision just because you're scared."

Katniss was quiet for a moment. "Effie bua said you guys met and married in a week. Was it that easy for you to say yes?"

"With me and Effie, it was different," Haydar said. "I'd met a lot of women before her, I was at least ten years older than you are now. Couldn't remain a bachelor forever, could I?"

Not to mention that the girls needed a positive female influence in their lives with Lajjo Bhabhi being emotionally comatose most times.

"When you're in the army, you learn to make quick decisions. I went with my gut when it came to Effie and it worked out. Sometimes, when you know, you just know. Look at Prim's friend, Rue."

Of all the weird marriage stories Haydar had heard, Ruhana's was the weirdest one –meeting and getting married to a man in Saudi Arabia in a month's time – over a bloody webcam, no less. Luckily for Rue, Mohammad Thameem, whose nickname was Thresh, had turned out to be a solid, honorable man. From what Haydar had heard, Rue was adjusting well to her new life in Jeddah.

"I'm not telling you to go that route," Haydar told Katniss now. "But I am telling you to leave yourself the option to say yes _or_ no."

Katniss looked off sideways, the way she always did when contemplating something. "Maybe you're right."

Haydar snorted. "I'm always right."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, most times."

Katniss smiled. "I guess it won't do any harm to go visit Peeta in Toronto. If I do end up saying yes, I could very well end up moving there."

Haydar smiled secretly to himself as his niece went off to tell Peeta her decision. Haydar had lived long enough to know how quickly ifs could turn into maybes, and how quickly maybes could turn to yeses.

That night, in bed, he challenged his wife to a bet: "Five hundred rupees that she agrees to marry him within the next four months."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Happy Valentine's Day in advance, everyone! Let me know what you think of the story so far :) **

**English translations for the Hindi phrases in this chapter:**

**_Kya tum mujhse shaadi karogi?_**** = Will you marry me? (the person being proposed to is female)**

_**Kundali = **_**Horoscope**

**Little notes of interest:**

**Katrina Kaif is a part British, part Indian actress who is currently very popular in Bollywood films.**

**Horoscope matching (for the bride and groom) is very common among Hindus in India especially when matches are brought before parents and some people take this pretty seriously. **

**WebCam marriages (or mostly marriage proposals and acceptances) are a lot more common than Haydar thinks - especially among Indian Muslims living in Saudi Arabia / the Gulf region.**


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

**O Canada!**

**_Early June_**

The first thing that hit Katniss the moment she stepped out from the baggage claim section on Pearson International Airport and into the arrivals area was a young woman, slightly taller than Katniss herself – a blond, blue-eyed tornado that nearly knocked Katniss off her exhausted feet after over 20 combined hours of flying and transit as she enveloped her in a hug.

"Kat _di_!" Primada's excited squeal made Katniss perk up a bit, despite her exhaustion. "I'm so happy you're here!"

Katniss hugged Prim back just as hard. She pulled away to get a good look at her sister – dressed in faded jeans and black t-shirt that said Keep Calm, I'm a Doctor. Her wavy honey-blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail – the only thing that had really changed since Prim had grown up and stopped wearing braids. Katniss wondered if she stood out too much in her leggings and kurta. But no one seemed to be giving her any weird looks so far.

"Hi Chutki," Katniss said. "How's that husband of yours treating you?"

Prim's cheeks turned pink, but there was a glow on her face when she grinned. "Very, very well. He would have been here too, but he had to teach a class at the university."

Katniss was about to ask her sister more questions, when a throat cleared behind them.

Katniss raised her gaze to another pair of blue eyes – ones that had been appearing in her dreams during the muddled bits of sleep she'd managed to snatch on the long flight, and even earlier, in the weeks after he left India after proposing to her.

Prim released Katniss and caught hold of the trolley bag Katniss had brought for her two week trip to Toronto. "I'll get this to the car. You remember what lot we're in, right Peeta?"

"K-8," Peeta said without taking his eyes off Katniss.

Prim winked at her sister and strolled away with the bag, wheels rolling in her wake.

"Hi," Katniss said, feeling a little shy all of a sudden.

In response, Peeta simply pulled her into his arms and placed a solid kiss on her lips.

"Peeta," she protested, gently breaking the kiss, though she didn't really pull away from his arms. "People will see."

"No one will care," Peeta said in a soft voice. "We could make out for a solid ten minutes and people would still ignore us here. Look around for yourself if you don't believe me."

And it was true. There were no giggles, no scandalized whispers, no policemen marching up to her with disapproving scowls on their faces. No one – absolutely no one in the crowd milling around the vast airport – seemed to care that she was kissing her boyfriend hello in a public place.

Her _boyfriend_. The thought of it sent a shiver of excitement through Katniss. For as long as she'd been engaged to Galjeet, it had always seemed that he'd gone from being her friend to her fiancé overnight. They hadn't been able to date or have the sort of relationships her friends had in college, or even the one Prim had with Lucas.

With Peeta, things were different. Everything was new and exciting and scary and sometimes so overwhelming that Katniss didn't know what she was getting into.

_That's why you're here_, she reminded herself. _To see exactly what you're getting into._

When she'd confided in Johanna about her plans to see Peeta, the other woman had applauded the idea.

"Make sure you actually stay with _him_ though and not with Prim and Lucas like your mom, aunt and uncle expect you to," Johanna had warned her.

Katniss had agreed.

Though she didn't her guardians this, she had no plans on staying with her newly wedded sister and brother-in-law, even though they had kindly extended an invitation to her. Not only did Prim and Lucas need their privacy, the whole point of this trip was to get to know the man who was currently nuzzling her neck.

"Peeta." His name came out as a sigh. "I'm pretty sure I smell bad right now." She could feel the hours of being cramped in a confined space now clinging to her skin in a film of dried sweat.

"Sandalwood." He murmured before finally putting an arm around her shoulders and guiding her to an escalator. "You smell like sandalwood. Even under the icky airplane smell."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Charming."

"What can I say?" His blue eyes sparkled. "I've always been a natural charmer."

"Well, Mister Charmer, you'd be more useful if you carried me to the car," she joked. "I'm so exhausted now, I can barely stand."

"Hmm. Is that what you want?"

Katniss heartbeat sped up under his contemplative gaze. "Peeta Mellark, don't you dare," she warned.

He didn't.

Not until they were at the entrance of the parking lot, when she felt herself being gripped by the waist and then tossed over one of Peeta's broad shoulders. He carried her to a black jeep, where Prim was standing, laughing at his antics and at Katniss's outraged shrieks.

**kpkpkp**

Peeta dropped Prim off at her little house in Etobicoke first before driving to the city, where the bakery was located.

"See you guys tonight!" Prim called out before exiting the jeep.

"Does it have to be tonight, Primada?" Katniss groaned. "I can meet your friends tomorrow, too."

"Trust me, it'll be better if it's tonight," Prim said firmly. "Your plane arrived in the afternoon. If you fall asleep now, your whole sleeping pattern will be out of whack. A party is a sure fire way to keep you awake."

"Yeah, sure." Katniss muttered. "Out of the crippling anxiety that I don't make a fool out of myself in front of complete strangers."

Prim blew her a kiss. "Cheer up, sis! Will see you soon!"

"I know it can be awkward when you don't know a lot of people at a party," Peeta said as he drove off. "But their friends aren't too bad. Besides, Finnick and Darius will be there too. You'll know them. Don't tell him I said this, but I'm pretty sure Finnick is dying to ask you questions about Annie D'Costa."

Peeta's voice had some sort of strange, soothing quality that always made Katniss relax. It wasn't any different now.

They continued talking as the broad roads of the suburbs narrowed to smaller streets, to the sort of traffic Katniss was more familiar with in Mumbai, only more orderly.

In Toronto, cars actually stayed within their lanes. It was fascinating – even impressive – to watch. Peeta navigated a few more streets before finally turning into an alleyway that also functioned as a parking lot for _Mellark's Bakery_, a laundromat and a small convenience store.

"Here we are," Peeta said, after pulling up the parking brake. "Let me get your bags. No arguments, Katniss; this place doesn't have an elevator. I'm not letting you carry that big trolley bag up when you're so exhausted."

Peeta lived in an apartment above the bakery. There was a small living room with a couch, TV and rug, a kitchenette, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

"I've cleared out the smaller bedroom for you," he said. "You can have my bedroom if you like; I didn't have time to clear out all my stuff, but –"

"I'm not kicking you out of your own room," Katniss said. "Where's the guest room?"

"Right next to mine." He pulled her bag in through to a room crammed with a pair of twin beds and a tiny dresser.

"It's not much," he admitted. "It used to be our old room – mine and Luke's that is – before both he and Dad moved out."

"Your Dad doesn't live here?" Katniss asked.

Peeta shrugged. "Moved in with his girlfriend last spring. It was about time, I'd say. They've been dating for five years."

A girlfriend? Katniss had never imagined that someone of Mr. Mellark's age would actually have one. While widowers in India often remarried, very few dated or had girlfriends for long periods of time unless they were very young.

"So, do you want to look at my room as well?" Peeta asked.

"Oh no, this is lovely," Katniss said. And it was true. The room, though small, was neat and tidy, with pretty green quilts on the beds. There were little yellow flowers embroidered on the quilts – _dandelions_, Katniss recognized from the pictures she'd seen of them in her mother's old plant books. She'd never seen one in real life, though Prim said they were plentiful in North America, especially during the spring. Peeta had left the window open to air out the room.

"Do you want to take a shower and relax?" Peeta asked her.

"Yeah." She could feel exhaustion creeping up her bones now. A shower sounded perfect and she could do with a short power nap. "You'll just have to wake me up so I don't oversleep and mess up my body clock like my little sister said."

Peeta grinned. "You'll be fine. I'll get some stuff taken care of at the bakery till then. How about I come back in a couple of hours? We can have a late lunch and then head off to Prim's and Luke's."

"Okay," she said.

She must have been less sleepy than she thought, because after her shower, Katniss could barely sleep for more than an hour. She decided to take a closer look at the apartment, which was really nicely decorated for a bachelor pad, paintings hanging on the walls of each room.

Katniss was admiring one of a beautiful sunset in the living room, when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist. Peeta rested his chin on her head.

"You like that?"

"I love it."

"I'm glad. Hungry?"

"I always am." She turned around to face him. "How did you know I'd be up?"

He chuckled softly. "Call it a lucky guess? Besides, I wasn't able to sleep when I flew in to Mumbai in the afternoon either."

They had a light lunch of chicken and veggie sandwiches on the brown bread made by the bakery and a broccoli and cheddar soup that Peeta heated up on the kitchenette stove.

"I'm sorry if it isn't enough. I figured since –"

"Stop." Katniss placed a hand on Peeta's. "Stop apologizing. I'm not a Maharani from Rajasthan, you know. Or Effie bua."

Peeta smiled sheepishly. "I can't help it. I just. I want you to like it here, Katniss."

And then, as if he'd said too much, he fell silent, his cheeks turning pink. The question of whether Katniss would like Canada or not and what it would mean for their relationship hovered in the air.

Katniss took a deep breath, knowing it was time to change the conversation onto lighter topics. "Peeta, this sandwich is perfect. I am in _love_ with this sandwich. I have never eaten anything more divine. I would marry it if I could. Happy?" Then she took a huge, messy bite, which made Peeta burst into laughter.

"If I'd known that, I would have slathered myself with chicken and mayo and presented myself to you on a platter."

"You don't need to. You taste good as it is," she shot back.

His eyes darkened rapidly. Katniss felt heat creep up her neck. It had been one thing to tease Peeta over the phone. Quite another to do it in person when he was just a foot away from her, looking like he was just seconds away from pouncing on her.

Another image came to her – of silvery curls and blue eyes, of bare skin warming to her touch in the moonlight. Though they had hugged and kissed a lot since they'd become official, he had not touched her the way he had all those months ago on the roof.

He reached out and traced the curve of her lower lip to the edge, where a drop of mayo nestled. He licked the drop off his thumb.

"So do you," he said.

Katniss suppressed a shiver. The way he was looking at her, maybe it would happen again. And she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't looking forward to it.

**kpkpkp**

"Your shirt is exquisite!" The chubby blond woman named Delly was so bubbly that Katniss wondered if she had been a Pepsi can in a previous birth. "All you Indian girls look so exotic and pretty."

"Thank you?" Katniss smoothed down the front of her turquoise kurta. She didn't really know if she liked being called exotic, but Delly who was an old family friend of the Mellarks seemed to be a kind person – a little excitable, no doubt – but mostly kind.

When Peeta had first introduced her to Katniss at Prim and Luke's party, Delly instantly launched into a story of how she and Peeta would pretend to be siblings when they were kids – mostly because Delly had always wanted a brother who looked like her.

Katniss had patiently listened to Delly, smiling when the other woman described the animals she and Peeta would draw on the sidewalk with chalk.

"Now, of course, he's graduated to oils," another voice said. Katniss and Delly turned to find Finnick Odair smiling at them with a glint of mischief goblin-green eyes. "Sorry, Del, mind if I steal away the guest of honour at the moment?"

"Of course!" Delly said, beaming in a way that would have put Effie bua to shame. Katniss tried not to laugh when Delly latched onto Lucas, who looked somewhat startled by the sudden intrusion on his conversation with another friend.

As Finnick steered Katniss to the couch, she automatically looked for Peeta and found him in the corner, pouring out fruit punch for a group of children who'd come with a couple of Lucas's married friends.

As if sensing Katniss's gaze, Peeta looked up and winked.

"So, looks like you and my boy Peeta are really hitting it off," Finnick said.

Katniss failed to suppress the goofy smile that threatened to split her face. Finnick grimaced in a way that reminded her of Johanna.

Then he sighed. "So Katniss, I need some advice from you."

"What kind of advice?" she asked, even though she had a strong suspicion where this was going.

"About Goa." Finnick said bluntly. "Darius and I are thinking of opening a business there. Maybe a fishing goods shop in Mapusa Market or something. My grandmother left me this huge inheritance that I had absolutely no clue what to do with. When I was in college, I just wanted to have fun and fool around. Now though I'm thinking of settling down. I was wondering if you knew how I could go about opening a business there."

"Johanna would probably be the best person to ask about Goa. Or maybe her cousin Annie. Annie actually used to work at Mapusa Market for a long time."

Finnick perked up a little. "She did, eh? Well that's interesting."

Katniss tried not to laugh. She was pretty sure Finnick knew this bit of information quite well.

"Hmm…is there...is there a way I can contact her?" Finnick looked at Katniss hopefully. "You know, maybe get her number?"

Katniss raised her eyebrows. "I'm not giving out my friend's number without her permission. You should ask her for that yourself."

"She thinks I'm a pervert though," Finnick's grumpy expression made him look like a little boy. "It's not fair, Katniss."

"That's your own fault." Peeta slid onto the couch next to Katniss and put his hand on her knee. "Not every girl is gonna fall for the Casanova act."

But Katniss couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Finnick, who was now scowling at Peeta and tying a plastic straw into a knot.

"Look," she said. "I'll talk to her, okay? If she says yes, I'll give you her number. Just remember that Annie gets hit on by a lot of guys. She probably thinks you're another roadside Romeo. If you're serious, you're going to have to show her that."

Finnick's face brightened and he gave Katniss a hug. "You're an angel! A gorgeous desi angel!"

"Hey, watch it!" Peeta said. "That's my girl!"

Katniss only laughed. Now that she was getting to know people like Delly and Finnick a little better, she was getting used to their exuberance.

In fact, as Peeta had said, most of Prim and Lucas's friends were pretty nice, asking Katniss questions about India and telling her stories about Toronto in return.

There were a couple of desis in the room as well – an adjunct professor from Chennai who taught with Lucas at UofT, and his wife who spent quite a bit of time taking to Katniss. The wife even invited Katniss to come and visit them at some time. "If you're ever craving idlis and dosas," she said with a smile.

In fact, things went quite well until Lucas introduced Katniss to a couple who came to the party a little later than the others – his best friend from college, Adrian Gloss, and a statuesque blonde Adrian had brought along as a date.

"Peeta." Adrian's date appraised Peeta in a way that had Katniss bristling. "It's been so long. I barely even seen you anymore."

"Cashmere." Peeta's voice was pleasant, but Katniss could feel the subtle tightening of his fingers on her waist. "I didn't realize I was that memorable considering the last time we met was two years ago. By the way, this is my girlfriend, Katniss."

Cashmere nodded. Katniss felt herself mirroring the woman's tight smile. What the hell? Peeta had mentioned he'd been out on a few dates after his break up – but he had told Katniss that nothing had come from them. "Every single time I would end up making an excuse and coming home early," he had insisted. "Every single time."

Why then did this woman give Peeta the sort of looks that could put Ekta Kapoor's soap opera vamps to shame?

Then again, it could be a mind game of sorts. Katniss had seen girls like Glimmer Khanna shooting similar looks Galjeet's way, acting as if there was a history between the two of them, even when there wasn't. At the time, Katniss had found their attempts a little ridiculous, amusing even.

The impulse to scratch out Cashmere's olive green eyes was entirely new. Katniss had never thought of herself as the jealous type.

Yet her instincts told her to trust Peeta, regardless of the looks he got from other women, the looks _she_ got from them when she was with him – a combination of envy and surprise.

Katniss's annoyance only increased when Cashmere began making conversation with Peeta – about Katniss – instead of speaking directly to Katniss herself.

"Have you told her how cold it can get?" Cashmere let out a breathy little laugh. "I had an Indian roommate once. She couldn't stand it. Packed her bags and left the minute we graduated."

"Don't scare her, babe," Adrian, who appeared entirely oblivious to Cashmere's dig, smiled kindly at Katniss. "I was born in Ottawa, which has a lot of snow, but even I don't like it. Hate driving in it!"

"Katniss is pretty tough," Peeta added. "She drives a tiny bike in crazy Mumbai traffic and extreme heat without breaking a sweat. I don't think she'll have trouble adjusting to a little snow."

"I've always wanted to see it," Katniss smiled at Peeta, surprised and pleased by the way he'd praised her. "The snow that is."

"Oh I'm sure." There was a hard edge to Cashmere's smile. "Though things change. There have been cases of people not getting jobs, not being able to adjust. Then of course, there are the stories about the scam marriages of course.

"Did you know how many people have just married Canadians to get quick access to a PR?"

As oblivious as Adrian had appeared previously, he looked a little confused now, even a little embarrassed. Peeta's fingers dug so hard into Katniss's waist, she was sure he was going to leave marks. His fury steadied her somewhat, calming her even as she contemplated and discarded various Johanna-esque tactics on dealing with the blond woman.

"Look here, Cashmere –" Peeta began.

"Did you know," Katniss smiled brightly at Cashmere, "that your name comes from the wool found on a Kashmiri goat?"

A snort came from somewhere behind Adrian, Katniss quickly glanced there to see Finnick and Darius covering up their mouths.

Red blotches appeared on Cashmere's porcelain cheeks. "What are you -?"

"You know I thought my parents were weird, naming me after a flower," Katniss said. "But I can't imagine being named after a textile. Do you have any siblings named Wool or Polyester by any chance?"

Cashmere's mouth opened and closed, as she tried to figure out if Katniss's question was sarcastic or innocent. Even Adrian couldn't help but laugh at that. Soon everyone around them was laughing. Muttering that she needed a drink, Cashmere grabbed hold of Her date's arm and steered him to the table that held the punch.

Peeta pulled Katniss to a quieter spot in Lucas and Prim's house. "That was brilliant," he said. "Petty, but brilliant."

"Was she one of your dates?" Katniss asked the question that was bothering her.

"Unfortunately, yes." Peeta grimaced. "Finnick set me up with her a couple of years ago. I lasted a full hour before I wanted to claw my own eyes out. Just ended up pretending I had a stomachache and went home. Never went out with her again."

"Really?" Now all the uneasiness she'd felt over Cashmere staring at Peeta started coming back. "You're not just…"

"Absolutely not." Peeta said at once. "If you want the truth…I was already a little obsessed with _you_ by then. I spent the whole night drawing you instead."

"A _little_ obsessed?" She could help but tease him now.

"Okay maybe a _lot_." He poked her ticklish left side, making her giggle.

"Ahem!"

Katniss and Peeta turned around to see Prim who was grinning at them widely. "Congratulations, didi," Prim told her sister. "You have now officially graduated from Effie bua's school of social etiquette. I have not seen anyone go that red."

"Prim, I was actually pretty bitchy to her."

"Being bitchy is a part of it," Prim said airily. "Have you seen Effie bua at her kitty parties?"

Katniss's laugh turned into a yawn.

"You're tired." Prim looked concerned. "Do you want to go back home?"

Katniss looked up at Peeta. "Do you mind? I know it's only nine thirty."

Peeta shook his head. "Absolutely not. I need to wake up early tomorrow as well."

The bakery was a fifteen minute drive away from Prim's house by the Gardiner Expressway. After so many years apart, the thought of having her sister so close by made Katniss pretty happy.

"So, how did you like your first day in Toronto?" Peeta asked once they were belted in.

"It was great," she said honestly.

In spite of her exhaustion. In spite of a spurned woman's silly taunts. The soft music in Peeta's car had a lulling effect on Katniss and by the time they reached the alley behind _Mellark's_, she was already half asleep.

The last few things she registered from that day: her head falling on a pillow, a pair of warm hands stroking her hair, the slightly rough texture of a quilt being pulled up to her chin, and a soft voice saying "Good night."

**XXXXXX **

**...And to think that when I first started this story, I thought it would be only four chapters long.**

**English translations for Hindi words/phrases**:

**Di / Didi = Elder Sister**

**Maharani = Empress**

**Little note of interest:**

**Lucas's professor friends are from Chennai (formerly Madras) in the state of Tamil Nadu and make a reference to food items native to South India. Idlis are rice cakes and Dosas are big flat crepes stuffed with spicy potatoes or other items. South Indian food is completely different from the food found in other parts of India and absolutely delicious.**


	16. Chapter 16

**_To all my readers, reviewers (including the lovely guest reviewers who I can't respond to personally on the site) – thank you! Your comments make me smile. _**

**CHAPTER 16**

**Growing Together**

The first couple of days, Peeta couldn't get much time off from work. Schools had closed for the holidays and the little bakery on Church Street was busier than usual, with crop after crop of carefree students and families dropping in for pastries, frozen drinks and freshly made sandwiches.

Peeta was afraid that Katniss would be bored, but she didn't seem to mind spending time with him like this – even helping him out in the kitchen or at the cash register. Katniss wasn't much of a cook or a baker, but she had a keen eye and a careful hand. Peeta had to tell her a recipe only once before she seemingly had the ingredients memorized, measuring out the flour, salt and sugar in precise quantities. With her help, they managed to get a lot of things done in half the time that Peeta would have, had he been doing things alone.

Peeta had never known of a girl who would choose working with him over going out – even when offered.

"Are you sure?" he asked her several times. "I can cut out early if you want."

"I didn't miss out on work when you came to see me," she pointed out reasonably. "It's okay, Peeta. Truly. I don't mind doing this."

He was pretty sure that any other girl would have thrown a tantrum. When he told Katniss this, she laughed.

"I'm not going to complain being around cakes and pastries all day." She rubbed off a bit of flour from his nose. Her eyes twinkled the way they always did when she was amused. "And how else am I going to get to know you if I don't spend time with you?"

She flushed while he just stared at her, debating whether or not to press her against the industrial sized fridge they kept for decorative cakes and just kiss her.

True to her word, Katniss had texted Annie and told her about Finnick having questions about Goa and Mapusa Market. After some discussion, Annie had agreed reluctantly to pass on her e-mail to Peeta's friend. Peeta was pretty sure he'd never seen Finnick grow so excited over getting a girl's e-mail address.

Katniss also seemed to get along well with Peeta's assistants at the bakery – a pair of red-headed twins named Castor and Pollux.

Pollux, who had his vocal cords crushed as a child from a horrible accident, communicated with them using sign language. Though Peeta didn't know enough of it, he'd still caught on to a few phrases to communicate with Pollux during work.

Pollux pointed at Katniss when she wasn't looking and circled his own face with a hand: _She's pretty!_

Peeta smiled, watching Katniss wipe her long, slender neck with the edge of her dupatta. He nodded at Pollux.

She was. More than pretty.

Peeta hadn't missed the second looks Katniss often got from men when they went for a walk in Yorkville one day. She had worn the yellow dress from the photograph, her long hair hanging to her waist in loose, silky waves. Katniss herself seemed entirely oblivious to the stares she was getting, innocently smiling at a group of high school boys who turned red when she caught them looking.

But Katniss had eyes only for Peeta – and even Peeta could tell that from the little smiles she sent his way when she thought he wasn't looking, or the way she stared at him when he iced a cake.

One afternoon, he caught Katniss looking up the requirements of UofT's Urban Forestry program on his laptop.

"I…uh…I was just looking," she said, going a little red.

Peeta felt his face break out into a wide smile. "Wait a sec." He went into his room and brought out a few glossy brochures.

"I got these for you last month." He hesitated a little when she said nothing, only taking the brochures from his hand. He hoped he hadn't crossed some line. "The university has another branch in Mississauga with an Environmental Studies program. I don't know if that's what you're looking for, but…"

Katniss's smile dazzled him for a brief second before she threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "Thank you."

**kpkpkp**

"Are you still in touch with your ex-girlfriend?" she asked him one evening.

They were sitting on the couch, after dinner, watching an episode of _Two and a Half Men_. Peeta put the TV on mute and raised his eyebrows, wondering if Charlie Sheen's crazy antics onscreen had brought about the question.

Overall, Peeta had thought the day had gone pretty well. He had taken time off from the bakery and shown Katniss around the city. They'd walked along Bloor Street, seen the exhibits at the ROM and the Bata Shoe Museum, and later had a picnic lunch on the grassy lawn by Lake Ontario. He later took Katniss shopping to Eaton Centre so that she could buy little gifts for her aunt, uncle and mother. While they were there, he bought Katniss a pretty green scarf that she had been admiring – despite her protests. "I don't like owing people," she'd said.

"There's nothing owed here," he'd replied. "You're my girlfriend and I'm buying you a _gift_."

He'd flicked her nose lightly with a finger (something he'd picked up after watching _Kuch Kuch Hota Hai_ on DVD a couple of months ago). The action made Katniss laugh and she'd finally let him buy the scarf for her – with the warning that he would end up getting something in return.

So he was a little surprised when the question about his ex came up – seemingly out of nowhere.

"Not really," he told Katniss now. "I mean she's on my Facebook and all, but I haven't seen her in years. Why, what's wrong?"

Katniss plucked at an invisible bit of thread on her shirt. "Oh it's nothing. Just…I mean, you know what it's like with me and Galjeet. I was just…curious, I guess." She looked up at Peeta, her face reddening. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything bad by it."

He gave her hand a quick squeeze. "I know you didn't. You have every right to ask me that question. Also, you have nothing to worry about where Janet is concerned." Peeta got up to grab hold of his laptop. "Here. Let me show you."

Logging onto his Facebook, Peeta navigated to his ex-girlfriend's profile. Janet still had the same medium-length curly brown hair and glasses from high school. But apart from that, a lot had changed. She looked older and there was a sparkle in her eyes that he had never seen when they were dating.

Peeta smiled when he saw Janet's profile pic. It was the Christmas card she sent out to all of her friends and family members a couple of years ago. She was wearing a Santa hat and her arms were wrapped around her smiling dark haired husband.

"Your ex married a guy named Chandler?" Katniss sounded amused. "Too bad she wasn't named Monica."

"I know, right? Not really surprised she chose a Chandler. She was a huge fan of _Friends_. Anyway, _this_ is how we're in touch, if that counts." He pointed to the laptop screen. "The last I heard from her was when she gave birth to a boy. And that was about a year and a half ago. Don't laugh but they named him Ross."

Which, of course, made Katniss laugh. The sound made Peeta happy.

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Janet and I were really good friends growing up. Kind of like you and Galjeet. But we aren't like that anymore. We occasionally wish each other on birthdays or Christmas, but that's about it. She got married, I had my own shit to deal with – we just drifted apart."

Katniss looked up at him, concerned. "Do you miss her? The friendship aspect of it, that is?"

"Sometimes," he admitted. "But not so much that I want to go back and hang out with her every week if you know what I mean. I mean, her husband's a nice guy. He invited me to their place a couple times to meet up, but I just felt awkward about it."

"I understand." Katniss snuggled against his chest. "I agree with you, though. About the awkward part. I don't think I'm going to be accepting invitations to meet Malini and Galjeet over tea anytime soon."

Peeta let out a happy sigh, feeling a little weight lift off his shoulders.

He logged out of Facebook, closed the laptop and turned the volume of the TV on again. But Peeta was no longer interested in Charlie Sheen's antics. He watched the light from the screen reflecting on Katniss's face and hair and felt her soft laughter tickle his chest. He watched her until his eyes finally flickered shut, the TV and exes forgotten.

**kpkpkp**

Peeta should have known it was a bad idea when Finnick suggested going to a night club on Saturday night – Katniss's fourth night in Canada.

"It's Bombay Nights at Hard Rock Café!" Finnick had said. "_Bombay_ Nights, Peet! Bollywood music all night long! Come on, Katniss, tell him!"

"Katniss is not into partying –" Peeta began.

"Actually I'm kind of curious about this." Katniss gave Peeta a reassuring smile. "Prim told me about the club nights at Hard Rock Café. She said the crowd that comes there is pretty decent. It's okay, Peeta. I can handle it. Besides, you should have seen some of the places Johanna dragged me to in Goa. Those were really scary!"

To Peeta's surprise, Katniss came out of her room that night dressed in a very short, stretchy black dress with long sleeves and tiny silver studs scattered all over the fabric like stars. Stockings and heels completed the outfit. Her hair was up in an elaborate braid. She'd also done something to her eyes, something smoky that brought out the grey of her irises.

All of a sudden, he was a teenager again, his heart racing before a date with a girl he'd had a crush on for ages. Peeta resisted the urge to wipe his suddenly sweaty hands on his jeans. If he wasn't careful, he'd end up drooling all over the new red, wine-coloured shirt Katniss had brought for him from India.

"Prim sent this one to me as well," she said, a little shyly. "Never really wore it before now though."

"You look gorgeous," he said.

Peeta silently thanked Prim when he followed Katniss out of the door. That dress was doing fantastic things to his girlfriend's ass.

Once they reached the club, they saw that Finnick and Darius were already there with a group of friends – or rather people Peeta had thought were his friends in college – people who'd disappeared from his life in the weeks following his accident.

He smiled coolly when Finnick introduced Katniss to Cato, Clove, Marcus and Lavinia.

"Look at you, Peeta," Lavinia gushed. "You look so well. Doesn't he, Marcus? We thought we'd never see you again."

_I was in an accident, not dead._ Peeta wanted to say. _And you could have seen me if you'd bothered to come to the hospital or my house even once. _

Pushing aside his bitterness, he gave her the stock reply he reserved for these occasions: "Oh you know. I've been busy with the bakery and all."

Katniss, however, was frowning. It was the one thing he loved about his girlfriend – she saw through everyone else's bullshit. She gave Peeta's hand a warm squeeze. "Should we line up? It looks like a long one," she said.

Once they got in, the inside of the club was packed. Bodies swayed on the dance floor to remixed versions of a song that sounded vaguely familiar to Peeta, only the lyrics were in Hindi. He saw Katniss's lips moving to the lyrics and wished he could have heard her singing instead of the thumping sound of the bass.

Prim was right though about the crowd at the club being decent. There were mostly couples around and the single guys left Katniss alone once they saw Peeta's possessive hand on her hip.

Finnick begged them all to do shots to toast Peeta and Katniss's new relationship.

"To my man Peet and his girl Kat!" Peeta had a feeling that Finnick had been drinking before coming to the club, but he wasn't drunk yet. His green eyes were perfectly clear and sparkling with mischief.

They quickly downed the shots, the tequila burning a path down Peeta's throat. Katniss made a face. "It tastes like cough medicine," she shouted over the pulsing music.

Peeta laughed. "I agree. I prefer beer to tequila."

"What?"

Peeta shook his head. Did he really enjoy this in college? The music seemed so loud now. He pulled Katniss close so that he could speak directly in her ear. "Let's dance."

There was barely any room for them to move on the floor, but enough for Katniss to show Peeta a few moves. She looked so unintentionally sexy that even men who'd come to the club with dates turned around to take second looks.

Finally, when a slower song came on, Peeta wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. After a bit of swaying on the floor, Peeta led Katniss back to Darius, who had taken a break from the dancing and was sitting at the bar.

"I need to use the washroom," he told his friend. "Will you keep Katniss company?"

Code for: will you keep other guys from hitting on my girl?

"Absolutely," Darius said, winking.

The lineup for the bathroom was a lot longer than he'd expected. By the time he'd returned, fifteen minutes had passed by. Darius looked panicked and Katniss was giggling.

Peeta was confused until saw the glazed look of intoxication in Katniss's lovely eyes. She draped herself across Peeta.

"Peeee-taaaaa. Cheetaaah. You look so hannnnndsommmme." She burst into a fresh round of giggles.

"I swear, Peet! I just ordered us rum and cokes!" Darius actually looked terrified. "She said she wanted to try it! I swear, I didn't know she would act like this!"

"She got like _this_ off one rum and coke? What the fuck, Darius?" Peeta shouted.

Darius winced. "Well, it might have been two. I swear, Peeta, she really seemed okay after the first one – not even a little bit buzzed. Ripper must've made them strong tonight."

Peeta was about to shout a little more at Darius and whoever this Ripper person was, when Katniss gently poked his cheek.

"_Gussa ho_?" She gave Peeta a sad look. "_Tussi gussa na ho_."

Peeta's lips twitched. Had he not been worried about her well-being, he would have laughed at the way she'd twisted a kid's dialogue from a Hindi film for her own purposes.

"No. I'm not mad at you, sweetheart." He turned to Darius. "I'm taking her home. She's gonna have a hell of a hangover tomorrow."

Outside the club, Katniss began swaying and singing loudly – and a little off-key – much to the amusement of a group of college kids standing by the doors.

_"Zarrra sa jhoom loon main…arrey na re na re na…"_

She spun in a circle. Peeta caught hold of her before she fell over.

_"Zarra sa ghoom loon main…arrey na re na re na…_

Then she kissed him on the mouth.

_"Aa tujhe choom loon main, arrey na re baba na…"_

And then, kicking off her heels, she took off like a gust of wind, towards the series of fountains sprouting out of the ground on Yonge and Dundas Square, laughing when a spray of water hit Peeta in the face.

"You're all wet," she pointed out a little unnecessarily.

Peeta sighed, wiping his face with a hand. "So I am."

She giggled and wrapped her arms around him. "Me, too. But not where anyone can see."

A shiver went through him at her admission before she dragged him through another jet of cold fountain water.

"Very funny," Peeta shouted at her. But he couldn't help laughing at the pure – albeit drunken – joy on her face.

Somehow, with a lot of kisses ("the song demands it," she told him), he managed to get her back into her shoes and bundle her back into his car.

Katniss sang all the way back home. Once back at the apartment, she kicked off her heels again and then motioned to Peeta with a crook of her finger.

"Katniss. Jaan, you're drunk…" He sighed when she ignored him and stalked off to his room. Her braid came unraveled and hung messily over one shoulder.

"I want you, Peeta," she said huskily. "Do you want me?"

"Katniss…" Whatever Peeta had been planning to say died in his throat when she reached down to pull up her dress and pull it off – completely – before tossing it to the floor.

Peeta felt himself grow hard at the sight of her in a lacy black bra, underwear, and stockings. He shook his head. As much as a certain part of his anatomy was demanding to be tended to, she was completely intoxicated now. Peeta had no intention of taking advantage of her in this state.

And just as well. Seconds later, Katniss's eyes widened, her hand going to her mouth. She raced to the bathroom, Peeta close on her heels, and vomited into the toilet bowl.

Sighing, he held back her hair as she expelled herself of most of the liquid she'd ingested and later took her back to bed. Quickly, without much thought, he took off her bra and stockings, leaving her in her underwear. He dug into his drawers for a clean shirt, which he helped her slip into with some difficulty.

"I feel awful," she whimpered.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said softly. "But you're not getting drunk anymore if I can help it."

He was debating on whether he ought to carry Katniss back to her room, when she grabbed hold of his hand.

"Will you stay?" she said, echoing the words he'd spoken to her a long time ago. "Stay with me?"

He lay down next to her and carefully loosened what remained of her braided hair. "Always," he whispered.

**kpkpkp**

The next morning, as Katniss woke up, she grew aware of a few things:

1. Her bed was warm and smelled oddly nice – like chocolate chip cookies – which was unusual because Effie bua had never been able to bake cookies without burning them.

2. Her pillow, which seemed harder than usual, rose and fell under her cheek, seemingly in sync with her own breaths.

3. Her right leg was nestled between two hard pillows, her backside oddly warm from the quilt nestled snugly around her.

Katniss's eyes snapped open, when she realized that:

1. She wasn't in Mumbai, but in Toronto – and more specifically, in Peeta's bedroom in his apartment above the bakery.

2. The "breathing pillow" she'd been lying on was actually Peeta's chest.

3. Her leg was straddling Peeta's legs, and the quilt that was cupping her bottom was one of Peeta's large hands.

Slowly, moments from the previous night began trickling into Katniss's hung over brain, increasing her mortification ten-fold.

She remembered get drunk off two rum-and-cokes and running through a fountain.

She remembered kissing Peeta…taking off her clothes… throwing up in the toilet bowl.

Oh. God.

Slowly she grew aware of the fact that she was wearing little except for one of Peeta's t-shirts and her underwear. A wave of nausea that had little to do with her post-drinking state hit Katniss. Had she…? Had they…?

She stiffened when Peeta yawned suddenly, his arm wrapping around her waist.

"Feeling better now?" he asked gently. She was grateful that the curtains were still shut. Behind them, the sun glowed, casting a faint sheen over his face – the long blond eyelashes, the cleft on his chin, the small bump on the tip of his nose.

She licked her lips, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Um. I guess?"

"Wait. Let me get you some aspirin."

She remained silent as he quietly handed over two pills and a big glass of water. After taking the aspirin, she looked at Peeta's messy blond hair, the groove on his left cheek left by a pillow. His blue eyes were bright even in the semi-darkness of the bedroom which, as Katniss had registered even in her drunken state, was fairly big and nicely decorated.

"I guess I slept in your room," she said.

A dimple appeared under the groove on his cheek. "I guess you did."

"Did we…um? Did we…?" She was pretty sure she had been talking a _lot_ last night when drunk. Now she couldn't form a simple sentence.

Peeta took pity on her and caught hold of her hands. "Nothing happened. You were too drunk and you'd made yourself sick. I wouldn't do anything when you were like that."

She felt her shoulders sag with relief.

_It would probably hurt less if she was drunk_, she thought to herself.

"What would hurt less?" Peeta asked.

Her face flamed. She'd said that out aloud, hadn't she?

His lips twitched. "Katniss, are you a virgin?"

"So what if I am?"

She didn't know why she felt so flustered about this. It wasn't uncommon for women in her country to remain virgins until they got married. Though Katniss had never considered her virginity some great prize to be won by breaking a bow at a _swayamvara_, she had always wanted her first time to be a little special. Not in the back-seat of a car, not in a hotel room on a random date, definitely not after getting drunk.

Even Johanna, who was casual about many things – including sex – did not tease Katniss about this. "It hurts like a bitch the first time," she had told Katniss. "If I would redo anything, I would redo that. Best to wait until you're completely comfortable with the idea and with the guy."

For a long time Katniss had thought the guy would be Galjeet. They'd kissed, even fooled around a bit, but Katniss always stopped them before things went too far. Galjeet often got frustrated and there were times when he would grow sarcastic with her: _Stop being so conservative, Kavi. We're engaged. It's not a big deal._

Though Galjeet never pushed her, his comments had made Katniss feel incredibly guilty back then.

Now it made her wonder: if Galjeet (someone intimately familiar with her upbringing and ideologies) could have talked like that – what would Peeta do? Peeta had grown up in Canada. Did he think she was conservative, too?

He'd already teased her a couple of times about being innocent. Would her inexperience be a hindrance to their relationship? Katniss's heart told her that Peeta wouldn't care about something like this, but her head argued otherwise.

His eyes widened when he saw the angry look on her face. "It doesn't matter if you are one. I wouldn't have taken advantage of you anyway."

"I've never…gone further than what we did on the roof," she blurted out. "I'm not very experienced."

"Well I don't know how _I_ gave you the impression of being a sex guru." He smiled wryly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've only been with one other person, Katniss. You're the first girl I've kissed in the last four years. I don't have any problems about taking things slow. I won't ever go that far if you don't want me to."

"It's a lot harder to stop myself when I'm with you." Katniss admitted. "And each time we say we'll take things slow, the opposite happens, remember?"

A wide grin split his face. "I remember. That rooftop memory has kept me company many nights since."

That was what she saw it – mingled with the lust in Peeta's eyes – a love so strong that it took her breath away.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said softly. Then, realizing something, she sat up. "Did you sleep with your prosthetic on all night?"

Now Peeta was the one who looked embarrassed. "Yeah…I forgot."

"Peeta!" She carefully cupped his cheeks to turn his face around. "I don't care about your leg. You know that, right?"

He sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just …habit."

"We're both big bundles of insecurities aren't we?" she joked, feeling amused all of a sudden.

He raised his eyebrows. "Watch it. You're talking about my favourite person here."

"Who? Yourself?" she quipped before he began tickling her sides and they both fell apart, laughing.

**kpkpkp**

That night when it was time to go back to bed, he asked if she wanted to move to his room.

"Just to sleep," he said shyly. "I won't do anything. I just sleep better when I'm with you."

"Only if you take off your prosthetic," she said. "I don't want you to sleep uncomfortably on my account."

"Deal," he said and she smiled.

Though she couldn't admit it yet, she slept better when she was with him, too.

**kpkpkp**

Over the next few days, they fell into a rhythm of sorts. Peeta baked. Katniss helped. Haydar called. Sometimes Katniss went up to the apartment to mark up the brochures he'd brought her or to read up on Canadian immigration policies. It was funny, Katniss thought, how you could fall so naturally into sync with another person, how they could turn into an extension of yourself even if you didn't know them all that well a few months ago. Five years earlier, Katniss could not have imagined even meeting a guy who wasn't desi, let alone dating him or sharing his bed before marriage.

Not that Peeta had tried pushing her boundaries in any way. Other than kissing, which he often initiated and enjoyed, he seemed content to let Katniss set the pace of their physical relationship. Things happened sometimes – she would sometimes wake up with his head nestled between her breasts, or a morning erection pressed into her back.

It took a couple of days before she found the courage to ask him what she had often contemplated over the past few months, ever since he kissed her for the very first time: "Can I touch you?"

His penis was long and hard, a drop of liquid glistening at the rounded tip. She traced a vein on the underside of his shaft, and then gripped him the way he showed her to, watching the expressions on his beautiful face – the reddened cheeks, his mouth opening, expelling a cry that was a curse and her name, before he fell apart. It made her heart race the way nothing else ever had.

When he found out how wet she had gotten just from making him come, he slid his fingers between her legs, stroking her mound gently, tracing her slit before carefully penetrating her with a finger. "You're so tight," he murmured into her ear before biting her lobe. A rush of heat went through her when he circled her clit with his thumb. She felt herself break and then melt, her walls pulsing around his finger for a long time before he withdrew it.

"I can't believe I waited this long to do that with you," she told him, once her post-orgasmic haze began to wear off.

He took more days off from the bakery than she thought he would have, had she not been here, but Katniss decided she wasn't going to question this. At the end of her first week, they went camping overnight in Algonquin Park about three and a half hours away. Breathing in the fresh pine-scented air and listening to the birds chirping in the trees, Katniss felt herself relax completely for the first time since she'd arrived in Canada.

"Do you like it?" Peeta asked, a little nervously. He always asked her this question whenever he took her to a new place.

"It's perfect," she said. "I love it."

But the truth was, it didn't matter where they went. What Katniss really found comfort in was Peeta's laughing presence, the feel of his hand on her back, his breath on the nape of her neck when she woke up every morning. She could get used it, she thought to herself. Waking up next to him every day.

By the time they left Algonquin – exhausted and happy from hiking and canoeing – she knew what she had to do.

**kpkpkp**

She didn't say anything until day ten. They were at the park next to the lake in the city, leaning up against an old oak tree. Swans and ducks bobbed on water in the distance like multi-hued beads on a wrinkled blue sari.

Peeta was humming quietly to himself, stroking Katniss's hair while she leaned on his shoulder.

"Ask me again," she said. "The question you asked last month at the beach."

The hand stroking her hair paused.

Peeta turned around to face her. "Katniss?"

"Ask me." She smiled at the way his mouth opened and closed. "I have an answer ready for you."

There was a brief moment of silence before Peeta cursed under his breath. "I don't have the ring on me." The excitement in his eyes dimmed a bit. "Katniss – if you don't mind me asking, what brought this on?"

Katniss had been expecting the question and had a speech all prepared for it. As expected, though, her words came out a lot less smoothly than they'd sounded in her head.

"You always ask me if I like something…when you take me someplace new. Over the past few days, I've been realizing that more than the place, I like being in your presence. It doesn't matter where I am as long as I'm with you. I like Canada, too. I could see myself living here. Maybe even working in the city or a park like Algonquin. Being close to Prim would be a bonus."

She bit her lip. "I'm not good with words. I can't express myself as well as you do. But I love you. A lot. I've never felt like this about anyone else in my life."

Several expressions flittered across Peeta's face – shock, awe, adoration – before his face broke into a blinding white smile. He took her hand, rubbing a thumb against the finger he would put a ring on later that day.

"Katniss, mujhse shaadi karogi?"

There was really only one answer she could give him.

**XXXXXX**

**I know some of you had been waiting for this. I hope you liked the chapter :)**

**English translations of Indian words/phrases:**

**_Gussa ho? Tussi gussa na ho._**** = Are you angry? Don't be angry. (This is in Punjabi not Hindi)**

**_Swayamvara_**** = a practice in ancient India of choosing a husband from a list of suitors by girls of marriageable age. This sometimes took on the form of competitions if the girl was a princess. For instance, in Valmiki's great epic, ****_Ramayana_****, Princess Sita marries Prince Rama after he breaks Lord Indra's "unbreakable" bow in half. **

**Little notes of interest:**

**The song Katniss sings while drunk, "Zara sa jhoom loon main" is from the movie ****_Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge_**** (DDLJ). It is indeed, ironically, about a drunk girl trying to seduce a guy. **

**_Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge_**** had its final curtain call at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai on 19 February 2015, after a historic 1000 week run. **


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER 17**

**Quick engagement, Quicker marriage – Part 1**

Back at the apartment, that evening, Peeta couldn't keep his hands off her. They were in his bed, Katniss nestled underneath, wearing a tank top and loose shorts. Linking his fingers through hers, he once again touched the ring she wore on her left hand, soothing himself with feel of the cool platinum, the smooth texture of the pearl in the centre.

Mine, he reminded himself. Real.

He was marking up her neck with kisses, when Katniss asked the question:

"Have you ever thought of getting married here?"

He looked up at her with some surprise and then carefully propped himself up on his elbows. A blush bloomed across her delicate features.

"Sometimes," he said. "But I always thought we'd have to get married in India."

Katniss sighed. "We do. We _have _to or Ma and Effie bua will be mad. But I was thinking…maybe we could get a marriage license while I'm here. It doesn't have to be a big thing."

He rolled off her and sat up, debating on how to ask the question without offending her. "Not that I don't want to marry you, Katniss, but why the rush?" he asked gently. "What brought this on?"

She sat up as well, fiddling with her braid. "I'm not into the whole _band, baaja, baaraat_ thing that comes with most Indian weddings. Even if I ask my family to keep things small, they'll still end up inviting at least a hundred people. Which is fine, I guess. But it should really be about _us_."

Peeta felt himself relax a little when he realized she was being sincere. Knowing Katniss and how reserved she was around other people, it made innate sense for her to want a private celebration. While Peeta himself had enjoyed the festivities at his brother's wedding, he wasn't too keen on the gossip that came with big celebrations either.

"I understand," he told her. "But you're leaving in three days, jaan. I think we need a little more time to get an appointment – even for a civil marriage."

"I can extend my stay for another week or so. I still have two and a half months left on my visa. And I have a refundable return ticket. I can ask my boss for an extension on my leave. Shiva can be an ass most times, but he wouldn't be too upset if I asked for another week."

He must have looked a little shell-shocked because Katniss took hold of his hand and gently squeezed it. "I know this feels really sudden. If you think it's too rushed, it's okay. We can wait."

He shook his head. "I'm just amazed at how much thought you've put into this."

She said nothing, sensing he needed some time to think things through. Though now that she'd put up the idea, he began to see other – more practical – reasons for getting a marriage license so soon.

Hypothetically, even if they got married this instant, Peeta knew that it would still take fifteen months for him to sponsor Katniss as a permanent resident in Canada – a full year and three months before Katniss would be legally allowed to enter the country as his wife. Getting a marriage license and certificate would only be the first step in the lengthy application process Katniss would have to start, once she returned to India.

He'd heard stories of sponsorship applications getting rejected, of wives or husbands being left behind in a different country. His stomach twisted at the thought.

"Hey. Peeta. Look at me, will you?" He felt her soft, slightly callused hands cupping his cheeks.

"I love you," she said. "Whatever you decide. It doesn't matter when I get married, as long as it is to you."

His heart leapt in the instant before he found himself pinning her to the mattress once again, his mouth devouring hers.

"Peeta," she gasped out.

"Okay," he said with a smile.

"Okay?"

"Let's get married next week."

They both agreed that it was important to tell Katniss's guardians about what they were planning to do. He noticed that her hands were shaking when she dialed Haydar's number.

"Do you want me to do the talking?" he asked.

She looked at him gratefully and nodded. "If you don't mind. I'm not that worried about Ma or Haydar uncle, but Effie bua might be a little pissed off."

Things however went far better than expected, Haydar cutting off Effie before she had the chance to argue too much about this – "You will have your big society wedding, Begum! Let them get the paperwork out of the way first."

Lajjo was the first to give them her blessings, after which Haydar began advising them over the phone. "Make sure you don't start an inbound application. Processing times will be much quicker if Katniss applies from India itself."

"We know," Katniss said patiently. "Peeta and I have been reading up on immigration policies. Once I return to India, I'll start getting the medical and police checks processed and apply as soon as Peeta gets the marriage certificate in the mail."

"And no funny business on the wedding night!" Effie shouted over the speaker. "It doesn't count until you're officially married here in India!"

Katniss felt her face redden and used a pillow to smack Peeta, who was clutching his sides in silent laughter.

"No promises." Katniss's reply had Effie shouting out curses in Hindi while Peeta just gaped at her in shock.

"What?" Katniss smirked at him after putting down the phone. "Don't tell me you _want_ to wait another six months."

They called Peeta's Dad next. Evan Mellark, though surprised, seemed to take the news in stride. "I have a friend at City Hall who works for registry services. He can help you get an early appointment."

The final people on their list were Prim and Lucas. After her excited squealing had subsided, Prim instantly began talking about taking Katniss shopping. "It's actually perfect timing. I have a week off from the hospital. We can go on the weekend. I have a couple of stores in mind."

When Katniss finally put down the phone, she looked as dazed as Peeta felt.

"You'd think that they'd all been _expecting_ this, the way they took things so calmly," she said.

He had to admit it was a little weird – how neither Prim, nor Katniss's family, nor his own father had been surprised by the news, but not shocked. Katniss was right. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed that they'd had a wager of some sort going on.

Before he could put forth the idea, however, Katniss stretched her arms upward, the hem of her tank rising, exposing her smooth, flat belly.

He leaned over to capture her lips once more, every other thought fleeing his head.

**kpkpkp**

_**From: Prim Singhania**_

_**To: Haydar Ali, Aafreen Ali, Lajjo Singhania****, Lucas Mellark, Evan Mellark **_

**_Re: K + P Wedding!_ **

_Dear all,_

_It's official! I won the bet about when they would get married! You all owe me Rs. 6550 in total! (Canadian Dollars, Indian Rupees, and Tim Horton's gift cards accepted)_

_xoxo_

_Prim_

**kpkpkp**

The shopping expedition over the weekend began at Prim and Lucas's house. Katniss had not seen her sister look this excited.

"Before we leave, I need to show you something," Prim said, leading her to the master bedroom. "If you don't like it, we can always get you something else."

The bedroom was nice. Large and airy, with big windows, though Prim said that this was a disadvantage during the winter. "Gets a bit cold here," she said.

Katniss remembered Peeta mentioning how he liked sleeping with the windows open – even during the winter.

"Don't you feel cold?" She'd asked him.

"It was part of growing up around ovens. Once I'm out of the kitchen, I need some cooling off." He'd pulled her close before whispering into her ear. "Don't worry. I only keep it open by a tiny crack in the winter. And I promise I'll keep you warm."

Katniss bit back the silly grin that was overtaking her face. "Where's your husband?" Katniss asked her sister.

"Out."

Katniss was sure that Prim was giving her the same Cheshire cat grin that Peeta had given her this morning when they woke up. The three of them had something planned – and it couldn't be shopping for clothes, because Peeta already knew what he was going to wear for their marriage at City Hall three days later.

_Three days_. Part of her – the part that longed to fully become one with Peeta – felt that time simply wasn't going fast enough. The other, more cynical part wondered if they were moving too quickly. Katniss hated how her emotions flipped from joy to terror to joy again in a single instant.

But, when Katniss looked at Peeta, somehow all the mixed emotions settled into something simple and oddly reassuring.

Love.

A few years ago, Katniss would have been confounded by the impact of such a strong emotion, would have probably not even recognized it if it hit her in the face. Love – true love, at least – had always been equated to loss.

Now, though, while she watched Prim enter the walk-in closet she shared with Lucas, Katniss wondered if this was what Galjeet had felt when he'd jilted her for Malini. And if it really was such a bad thing after all.

She sat up straighter, when Prim stepped out of the closet, staring at the carefully folded sari in her sister's hands. Katniss felt her throat tighten.

"Is that…?"

"It is." Prim laid out the sari over the bed, while Katniss stared at it, dumbfounded. As a girl, Katniss had seen her mother wear it over a dozen times – especially to big weddings or functions Papa had been invited to sing at.

"Why do you wear this old thing?" Katniss had asked her mother when she was eight. "Why not something else?"

But Ma had only smiled mysteriously and patted Katniss's head. "I will tell you when you're older," she'd said.

Only that time had never come. By the time Baldev Singhania died, all Katniss knew about it was that the sari was Ma's favourite – one she said Papa had given her when they got married. One she could no longer bear to wear or look at, after being widowed.

"Ma gave this to me as a gift on my wedding," Prim said now. "I never wore it though. It didn't feel right, somehow."

Of their own accord, Katniss's hands brushed the smooth, bottle-green Indian silk and the thick gold border, marveling at how well the sari had been preserved for over twenty five years.

"I always loved this sari," she said.

"I know," Prim said. "I also knew that Ma really wanted to give it to you, not me."

"What?" Katniss looked up, surprised. It was a tradition in their family for a mother to gift a sari to her daughter when she got married. But, after her own fiasco of a wedding, Katniss had sworn many a time that she would never get married.

Though she couldn't explain the warmth that spread through her heart when she touched the old silk, the longing to put it on – as if she was eight years old again and not twenty seven.

"Are you sure about this, Prim?" Katniss said after a pause. "I mean, Ma gave this to you, not me."

"Do you see yourself wearing it in three days?"

Katniss hesitated. "I don't have a matching blouse. Mom's old one won't fit me."

"That's not a problem. I have a friend whose work I can commission on short notice."

"But, Prim…"

"Portia's great. In fact, I told her we might drop by her place today to measure you." Prim grinned. "Di, if your mouth opens any wider, you'll start attracting flies."

Katniss pressed her lips together once more. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Ever since I saw you and Peeta acting like lovebirds at my wedding," Prim said, matter-of-fact. "Come on now. We still have shopping to do."

"Shopping? What more do we need?"

Prim sighed. "Shoes, jewelry, undergarments…"

Katniss felt a four-alarm blush overtake her cheeks. "What?"

Prim smirked. "Undergarments, big sister. Or as they call them in this country, _lingerie_."

"You're nearly as bad as Johanna," Katniss muttered. "The minute she finished congratulating us, she started doling out sex advice."

Prim snorted. "I would have loved to hear that. What did she say?"

"I don't know," Katniss said irritably. "I hung up mid-way through her lecture on condom use."

Both sisters stared at each other for a long moment before bursting into giggles.

**kpkpkp**

Their appointment at City Hall was on Tuesday, a day after Katniss had initially planned on returning to Mumbai. Peeta quietly paced inside the living room, while his brother sat on the couch, reading a magazine. Katniss and Prim were holed up in Peeta's room, where Primada was helping her sister get dressed. After a few minutes, Lucas finally looked up, tossing the magazine back on the coffee table.

"Wearing a hole in the floor isn't exactly a good way to warm up cold feet, little bro."

"I'm not getting cold feet," Peeta fiddled with the cuffs of his white dress shirt before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "I just don't know what's taking them so long."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. Peeta sighed and sat down beside his brother. "Okay, so I'm a little nervous," he admitted.

"Why so? A couple days ago you ate my ear off about how excited you were about the wedding. Besides, wasn't she the one who suggested you both get married?"

Peeta shrugged. "I know I'm being irrational. But it's been so long since something so good has happened in my life. Part of me is afraid I'm dreaming or that something crazy is going to happen and change everything."

"Well, your bride isn't wearing white to the wedding. So there are no omens about her turning into a widow prematurely," Lucas said, his normally serious eyes glinting with humor.

Peeta smiled, remembering how adamant Katniss had been about not wearing white to the wedding – even though it was a court house. ("Widows wear white in India, Peeta! At the risk of sounding like my aunt, I'm going to say that's completely inauspicious.")

"I know," he told Lucas now. "She hasn't even let me see the sari yet."

"The groom can't see the bride all dressed up before the ceremony," Lucas replied. "Bad luck, remember? And that's not even an Indian tradition."

Peeta snorted. Peeta himself had flouted tradition somewhat – forgoing a tuxedo for his best suit – a richly textured charcoal grey set that his father and Luke had gifted him on graduating university and an ice-blue tie.

"I don't think _anything_'s traditional about the way we're getting married."

"Does that even matter?" Lucas asked. "Forget that, the bigger question is: Did you have any doubts when you asked her to marry you?"

"No."

"Did you doubt her when she accepted?"

"No, but –"

"Then trust your instincts. Relationships aren't perfect. Neither is marriage. But it doesn't have to be – as long as it feels right to you and Katniss."

Peeta was about to answer, when the door to his bedroom opened and Prim stepped out, looking very pretty in a simple blue sari with silver sequins on the border. She cleared her throat, grinning.

"I would sing _Here Comes the Bride_, but then I'd also have to sing _Raja Ki Aayegi Baarat_ and since I'm completely tone deaf, I'll just spare you the torture and...Oh, Kat di, come out will you?"

"And not give you a chance at your little impromptu speech?" The teasing tone of Katniss's voice soothed Peeta's earlier fears somewhat. She didn't sound like she was having second thoughts.

Peeta heard the soft swish of fabric, the light tap of a heel on the hardwood floor, before his bride stepped into the room - a vision in green and gold.

A long time ago, he'd heard Lucas saying that the sari could be the most conservative and seductive of all Indian outfits. The sort of clothing that could cover and reveal a woman's best attributes at the same time. At the time, Peeta had not understood what his brother had meant.

But now.

Now Peeta found himself mesmerized by the rich, green and gold fabric, marveling at the way it curved around Katniss's shapely hips, partially revealing the curve of her bare waist, before rising over the swells of her breasts, and then falling over her shoulder in a neat cascade of pleats.

Her black hair had been twisted into a simple bun, the only accessory a gold chain that curved down the parting along her skull, ending in a small pearl like ornament that rested right above the centre of her eyebrows. But apart from matching earrings, gold bangles on each wrist, and Peeta's ring, Katniss wore no other jewelry.

The real beauty, however, was on Katniss's face. Her glowing, honey-toned skin. Her beautiful grey eyes that appeared both excited and nervous all at once. They reminded Peeta of the first time he'd seen her, standing outside the mandap hall in Mumbai, a pair of stolen shoes clutched to her chest, the scowl on her face melting in the second before she brushed her lips over his cheek.

Peeta smiled at her. "Here to finish me off, sweetheart?"

She blushed. "I could ask you the same thing."

The smile she gave him plucked the last sliver of doubt from his chest. Luke was right. Peeta may not have imagined getting married this way – or even to an Indian woman. But, somehow, when Katniss slipped her hand through his, everything felt right. And Peeta knew that however they might have met, _this_ – whatever this strange, miraculous thing was between him and Katniss – would have happened anyway.

**kpkpkp**

The appointments – back to back at the registry services office at City Hall, followed by a visit to the justice of peace at the courthouse – passed by in a blur of excitement and nerves for Katniss. There were times when she simply held onto Peeta's hand, grateful for his smiling face and steady presence.

Years later, all Katniss would remember of this day – at least from the official ceremonies part of it – was her interaction with the justice of peace, Plutarch Heavensbee, a man who looked like he was in such a hurry that he kept consulting his pocket watch even when they said their vows to each other.

Every thought flew out of her head when he pronounced them husband and wife, when Peeta, before waiting for another word, gently pressed his lips to hers. The kiss had quickly escalated, and had it not been for Prim's giggles and Plutarch's uncomfortable throat clearings, Katniss was pretty sure they would have continued for quite some time.

"You'd think he'd never seen kissing couples before," Peeta told her when they finally left the court house with Prim and Lucas in tow.

"Maybe we got carried away," she said lightly, even though she longed to kiss him again.

"Can you blame me?" Peeta's warm hands gently gripped her waist. He rubbed his thumbs in small circles over the bare skin there, sending little tendrils of heat up her spine. The sari blouse Portia had made was skimpier than what Katniss was normally used to wearing, but she hadn't felt as uncovered as she did right now, face to face with the Peeta's hungry eyes. "I can't wait to get you alone."

She placed her hand over his broad chest. His heart was beating as rapidly as hers. "Well, you're the one who wanted to have a little party," she said softly. Katniss had not initially liked the idea of having any sort of party, but Peeta had promised it would be small. "There's also a little surprise for you," he'd said.

Right now, however, Peeta groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Hey, lovebirds," Lucas called out from his car. "Should we tell everyone to head home and leave you two alone?"

Peeta's blushed slightly, releasing her from his grip before he led her back to the jeep, which had a little sign on the back that said "Just Married."

The party, to Katniss's relief, was a small affair – with only Prim, Lucas, Peeta's father, Finnick and Darius in attendance. Even with such a small crowd, the little apartment above the bakery looked nearly full.

Then Katniss plugged in Peeta's laptop and dialed Haydar's Skype ID.

"Hello, hello, hello!" Effie's bubbly voice echoed into the mic at the other end, followed by a few muttered curses from Haydar uncle, after which the line finally cleared.

"Oh let me look at you, Katniss," Effie bua said. "Masha'allah! She looks beautiful, doesn't she, Bhabhi?"

"Beautiful." On screen, Lajjo's eyes filled with tears.

"Do you like it Ma?" Katniss felt herself grow nervous, face to face with her mother. "I know you gave it to Prim."

"It's perfect," Lajjo said. "Just perfect."

"You look wonderful, sweetheart," Haydar uncle said with one of his rare smiles. "You clean up nicely, too, boy. Just remember that I –"

"—still have a gun!" Peeta and Katniss called out in unison.

Even Haydar couldn't help but laugh at that.

**XXXXXX**

**Your reviews are love! **

**Please note that I am not an immigration expert or lawyer by any means – so any inaccuracies about the Canadian spousal sponsorship program are all mine. **

**English translations for Hindi phrases in the chapter:**

**_Begum = _Muslim title for a lady of aristocracy/royalty/high rank. In this instant Haydar uses it to affectionately address his wife.**

**_Chat mangni, pat byah_**** = Quick engagement, quicker marriage. **

**_Band, Baaja, Baaraat_**** = Wedding band, Music, Wedding Procession (synonymous with boisterous Indian weddings)**

**Little note of interest:**

**It is true that Hindu widows wear white in India (at least amongst the most traditional families). For a long time, widows were regarded as inauspicious in India. Women were forced to shave their heads, live in severe austerity, and were banned from attending weddings or other joyous occasions. Deepa Mehta's movie, _Water, _explores the story of child widows in India in the 1940s. Heavy (and depressing) subject matter, which I won't go into detail about here, but a great movie. **


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER 18**

**Quick engagement, Quicker marriage – Part 2**

After Katniss and Peeta talked to her family for some time, Lajjo asked if she could talk to Katniss alone. Haydar and Effie, who had obviously been expecting this, quickly shouted out goodbyes to everyone else.

"Use our room," Peeta said. He opened the door and grinned at Katniss. "I'll get your surprise ready till then."

Katniss smiled back. She hadn't missed the way he'd now called _his_ room _their_ room. She didn't like surprises all that much, but she knew Peeta wouldn't overwhelm her. Her heart thrumming with anticipation, she carried the laptop to his room and shut the door. When she settled down on the bed, she found her mother sitting alone in Haydar's study.

"I'm alone now, Ma. What did you want to tell me?" Katniss asked.

Ever since her father had died, Katniss and her mother had rarely spoken to each other for longer than a few minutes – their conversation at best stilted and curt. As a teenager, Katniss had remembered yelling at her mother once for asking about her whereabouts at one time, when she'd returned home late after a night out with Johanna. "You have no right to ask me that question!" Katniss had shouted. "You lost that right a long time ago!"

Haydar had been the one to set her straight then. "She is your _mother_," he'd told her sternly. "She has every right to ask after you. I know what she did was wrong. But it was because she was ill. How would you feel if I kept punishing you for something you did when you were sick?"

Though Katniss had resented the lecture, she had felt guilty enough to apologize to her mother. Haydar also made Katniss meet with a counsellor several times to help her understand her mother's depression and for Katniss to resolve her own issues. Now, after ten years of resentment, Katniss did not feel angry with her mother anymore. But they weren't close – not like other mothers and daughters, not even like Prim and Lajjo. A little part of Katniss always closed itself off when Lajjo tried to get too close.

Being with Peeta, however, had changed Katniss's outlook on many things. He'd somehow slipped into the cracks of her heart and sealed himself inside. He'd shown her that it was okay to trust people, to let them in again.

Maybe it was time she started letting her mother in as well, Katniss thought now.

"I had always planned to give this sari to you, you know," Lajjo began. "From the day you were born. I hope you weren't upset that I gave it to your sister instead."

"I would never be upset about you giving something to Prim," Katniss said. For the longest time, Prim had been the only person Katniss had ever loved. She would have given up her life for her little sister. A sari was nothing in comparison. "Besides, I never thought I would end up here." Katniss gestured to the room around her. "Like this."

Married to someone she loved.

Lajjo's wan face lit up with a smile and Katniss once again remembered why her mother had been regarded a beauty when she was younger. "Well, it just goes to show how things work out, don't they? Especially where this sari is concerned. I had planned to tell you this story a little earlier, but I think this time is even better.

"When your father and I got married, I got pregnant almost immediately. It was a big thing – back then – having children." Lajjo's eyes bored into Katniss's. "Especially when the child is a boy."

Katniss's nails dug into her lap.

"Our families were ecstatic. They consulted astrologers, picked out a few names. Your father even assembled a crib beside our bed. To cut a long story short, I had a miscarriage." Lajjo inhaled sharply. "I think nowadays doctors would tell you that it is normal to sometimes lose a child during the first pregnancy. That you could always try again and be a little careful. But my mother-in-law…let's just say she wasn't very forgiving."

Katniss grimaced. She'd never had any contact with her paternal grandparents – they'd both died before Katniss was born. Her mother's side of the family was even worse. They had cut off all ties with Lajjo after she eloped with Baldev. Katniss would have not even known who they were or how to contact them. Not that she ever wanted to, now.

But Katniss knew what her mother meant when she said that her mother-in-law wasn't forgiving. She'd come across plenty of superstitious women in her aunt's circle who accused their daughters-in-law of various things – including lost sons and lost children. It always seemed like these women needed someone else to blame. Someone other than God.

"For the longest time I could not bear to be with your father. I was always afraid of disappointing him. What if I failed again?" Lajjo continued. "Everything changed a day before our one year anniversary. He gave me this sari and said he was taking me out to dinner. He didn't care if I could give him a child or not, he said. He just wanted to be with his wife.

"A month later, I found out I was pregnant again. This time, with you. Having you was the most wonderful and terrifying thing in the world, Katniss. I had nightmares that I would make one misstep and lose you. But everything was worth it when I finally held you in my arms. Every time I wore that sari, it reminded me that things could be good, in spite of our losses. It reminded me of the joy I felt when I held both you and Primada. I'm sorry I forgot that for a time. I've not been the best mother to either of you. But you – you're not like me. You're exactly like that stubborn little water root I named you after."

Katniss laughed even though her face was wet with tears. As touched as she was by her mother's gesture and story, she knew it was only the first major step in the long healing process their relationship required. There were still many things she wanted to say to her mother, many things they needed to discuss when she went back to Mumbai.

For now, she decided to start with the simplest, most important thing: "I'll always love you, Ma. No matter how angry I get. I'll see you again soon."

**kpkpkp**

The surprise that both Peeta and Lucas had been concocting over the waiting was waiting in the living room. A rich, two-tiered chocolate gateau with exquisite piping work in white icing on the sides. Cityscapes – Katniss recognized, her breath catching. The Gateway of India with its boats and yachts on the Arabian Sea, melding into a lake with the CN Tower and Toronto city skyline.

The cake was topped by a little blue scooter, straddled by a small sari clad bride. The small tuxedoed groom was seated in the side-car, holding up a little plaque that read शुभ विवाह!

"A Happy Marriage?" Katniss read out in Hindi. She looked up at Peeta and smiled. "Where did you learn to write that?"

"From Luke," Peeta said, looking pleased by her reaction. "It took a couple of tries before I got the letters right."

Under the bike, Peeta had also piped their names on the cake in the curling Devanagiri script: कैतनिस और पीता.

"You write better than I do," Katniss said honestly. "You must have spent ages on this!"

"It wasn't much," Peeta said with a shrug, but he was blushing. Knowing how conscientious he was and how perfectly each detail on the cake had been captured, Katniss was pretty sure he had. It explained all the time he'd spent cooped up in the back room of the bakery over the weekend.

She gave him a quick kiss. "It's beautiful. I'm not sure I want to eat it."

"If you don't, then the rest of us definitely will," Prim said, grinning. "Now stand in front of the cake, you two. I want to take a picture."

Katniss was barely aware of the flashing lights and the laughter around them. All she knew was that she wanted everyone to leave so that she could be alone with Peeta.

And from the glances he kept shooting her way, she knew he wanted the same thing.

**kpkpkp**

"It actually tastes best toasted over a fire. The kitchenette has a gas stove. Or maybe we could use candles. There's butter if you don't like it plain." Peeta didn't know why he was so nervous.

The bakery was closed for the day and their guests had left about ten minutes ago. He and Katniss were alone – the perfect time to give her his other surprise – a hearty loaf made with nuts and raisins – "traditional bread baked by Mellark grooms for Mellark brides to eat on the wedding night," his father once told him.

Now, though, face to face with this lovely woman who had somehow stepped out of a four year old dream and into his arms, Peeta found himself rambling like an idiot. He gulped down the rest of his words when Katniss stepped close and placed her hands over his.

"Do you really want to eat bread now?" she asked him. Her eyelashes fluttered against her reddened cheeks. A smile played on her lips.

Peeta had planned to ease her into their wedding night. With the bread first, then a romantic dinner. It wasn't even night-time right now. _To hell with that_, Peeta thought, sliding the loaf back on the counter.

Katniss's eyes flew wide open when he gathered her in his arms, lifting her up bridal style, before carrying her to the bedroom.

Once inside, he nudged the door shut – a habit from living with roommates in college and his family for most of his life – even though there was no one inside the apartment except the two of them.

He carefully placed Katniss at the foot of the bed, near the dressing table. He could hear her soft, ragged breaths. They'd both taken off their shoes at some point during the party. He closed the space between them, until the tips of his bare toes (one foot at least) were touching hers. He gently kissed the centre of her palm.

"It's only me," he reminded her gently. "We can still wait."

She sighed and relaxed in his arms. "I don't want to wait anymore."

He helped her take down her hair first which, for a simple knot, was held together with more bobby pins than he could count. They clattered on the dressing table, one by one, with the bangles, the headpiece, the earrings, and finally the brooch that held the sari pallo to her shoulder.

Peeta gathered the silk in his hands, examining the small, dark-green blouse that fit her like second skin. The neckline plunged in a deep V, doing beautiful things to her breasts, and ended in a knot right between them. He restrained himself from burying his face into her soft curves and kissing the little beauty mark on her left breast.

There would be time for that. Instead he decided to focus on helping her out of the rest of the sari, kneeling down to untuck the rest of the material from her petticoat.

"There's a pin holding the pleats of the skirt together," she said in a shaky voice. He glanced up at her while he removed the pin and carefully put it aside. Once the pleats were untucked, the rest of the silk quickly unraveled. Before rising to his feet again, Peeta leaned forward to dip his tongue into the hollow of her navel for a quick taste, smiling when he heard the sharp intake of her breath.

Carefully placing the sari on the chair beside the bed, Peeta turned back to help his wife out of the rest of her clothes, leaving her in a white lace bra and panty set that had his heart racing.

She licked her lips – more out of nerves than attempted seduction, he guessed – but he still felt himself growing hard. He shook his head. If he wasn't careful, he was going to come all over his pants like a teenager.

"You're overdressed," she said. With shaking hands, she unbuttoned the front of his shirt (he was glad he'd taken off his jacket and tie before entering the room), her hands reaching out to stroke his skin, the sprinkling of coarse blond hair on his chest. Her hands fumbled with the belt on his slacks; more so when he nibbled the skin along her neck.

"Pee. Ta." She gasped. "I can't. Concentrate."

Reluctantly, he lifted his head from her neck and let her undo the belt and zipper while he shrugged off his shirt. The pants slid down his legs and pooled around his feet.

Her breasts fit perfectly into his hands. He stroked the nipples through the thin lace, feeling them pebble under his fingers. It amazed him how responsive she was to his touches. Seconds later, they gravitated to the bed, his mouth tugging on her nipples, biting them gently through the bra before soothing them with his tongue. She whimpered before begging him to take it off. So he did before sliding down his hands to gently tug at the little scrap of lace between her legs. She flushed and then, in a moment of rare boldness, traced the lump under his now uncomfortably tight briefs with a finger.

"You first."

Peeta took his underwear off so quickly that Katniss laughed. Grinning, he inched down her panties, revealing a thatch of dark curls already glistening at the centre. He stared at her for a brief moment – the glowing skin and long legs, the silky black hair spread over his pillow, her eyes hooded and gleaming with lust – and mentally catalogued each detail the way he would for a sketch.

"You're stunning," he murmured, kissing her deeply. Her lips moved in perfect sync with his, her tongue hungrily tracing the inside of his mouth. Her hands smoothed over the muscles in his back before burying into the curls at his nape. The light tugs on his hair made him harden even more. His hand cupped the thigh she was curving around his hips and held it in place. He debated with himself for a second before gently breaking the kiss.

"Katniss, I want to try something. I haven't done this before, but I've heard girls like it. And that it really helps you relax for your first time."

Katniss bit her lip. "What exactly…"

"I'm going to kiss you here." He stroked the mound between her legs. "If you don't like it, I'll stop. I promise."

Katniss's face, already slightly flushed from their kisses, turned a deep red. "There?"

His fingers lightly traced her slit. _God, she was so wet already._ "Is that okay?"

She took a deep breath. "You've never…?"

"Never."

Peeta had been curious about oral sex as a teenager. But his ex had never liked the concept of giving or receiving on that front. He hadn't minded back then, eventually relegating it to the realm of unfulfilled fantasies.

It was not until Katniss became his girlfriend that he started thinking about it again. About how she tasted. If she would react with the same sort of sensuality that she did when he kissed her.

"Okay," Katniss said softly. But, mingled with the apprehension in her voice, he sensed curiosity. He went slowly, trailing light kisses over her neck, breasts, belly, the inside of her left thigh, which he raised it over his shoulder, holding the other down to the mattress with his hand. He allowed his breath to brush the curls at her centre before carefully tracing her slit with the tip of his tongue. Once, twice. Again. By the time he sucked her clit into his mouth, her quiet gasps had turned into loud moans and her fingers were digging into his hair, holding him in place. He alternated between sucking on her clit and lapping up her tangy arousal before sliding in two fingers and massaging her tight walls.

She came in a rush of silky liquid, her legs locking tightly around his head, her face scrunched up into an expression that looked like a mix of both pleasure and pain. He parted her legs once more before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"So." He traced her nipple lightly with a finger. "I take it that you liked that?"

Katniss looked at him, a little dazed, before smirking and pulling him forth for a hard kiss. She grimaced. "Don't I taste funny?"

"You taste amazing," he said honestly. At least to him she did. He really hoped she would let him do that again sometime.

She giggled and then locked her eyes with his. "Peeta, I'm ready."

He nodded and got off the bed to reach into the bedside drawer where he'd kept a new, unopened box of condoms. He would have preferred not wearing one at all, but Katniss had yet to start birth control, and he knew that neither of them wanted a baby just yet.

She watched him curiously as he ripped open one of the foil packets, pinched the tip and rolled it on. "I have lube, too," he said. "Do you want me to get it?"

She shook her head. "Let's try without first."

He kissed her lips and carefully knelt between her legs, coating the head of his penis with her arousal. Then he began sliding in, inch by inch, wincing with the effort of not plunging in at once when he felt her tight walls gripping him. It was perfect. _She_ was perfect.

"You're. Big." By the pained expression on her face, he guessed it wasn't a compliment. It made him deflate a little and he began to withdraw, when she tightened her grip on his shoulders.

"No." Her breath came out it pants. "It's just…Give me some time to get used to it."

"We can always try again, jaan." He'd started using the endearment about a month earlier. Now it fell naturally from his lips. He gently stroked her thigh. "We have time."

She shook her head. "It feels a little better now. Try moving again."

This time, he didn't stop until he was all the way inside. A tear slid down the side of her face and into her hair. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I promise it will get better."

Her tender smile surprised him. She brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. "I know." He forced himself to stay still and then, to ease some of her discomfort, reached between them to circle her clit with his thumb.

Her breath came out in a rush. "You can move, Peeta. Just…just keep doing that, too."

So he did. Determined to make her come again, he kept stimulating her sensitive nub. He knew he was doing something right when she began moaning with pleasure. When he heard the hitch in her breath – the soft cry that always came with her orgasm, his hips began rocking their own accord. Harder, faster. She was crying out his name into his ear when he felt that familiar coil of sensation in his belly. His back arched when he emptied into the condom, her tight walls pulsing around him.

When he came down from his high, he could feel her stroking his hair, wiping the sweat off his face. He could feel the prosthetic chafing his limb, but for once Peeta didn't care at all. He stayed locked inside her for a few more moments before sighing and rising to his feet.

"I'll be right back," he told her.

Quickly disposing of the condom, he brought back a few warm, wet towels from the bathroom and tenderly wiped her between her legs. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "I didn't hurt you too badly did I?"

The smile she gave him was radiant. "You didn't hurt me intentionally, Peeta. It was going to be painful no matter what. I'm just glad that I waited. I'm glad it was with _you_."

"You felt perfect." He felt his face twist into what Luke called his stupid, goofy smile. "Though I'm not really surprised since you've featured in every wet dream I've had for the past four years."

She blushed endearingly and then held out her arms. "Sleep with me?"

He didn't need to be asked twice. They fell into a deep slumber, limbs so entwined that he no longer knew where she ended and he began.

**kpkpkp**

Hours later, they toasted two slices of the raisin-nut bread over the kitchen stove. Peeta was so entranced by Katniss's delicate profile that he nearly burnt his own slice. Katniss giggled before feeding him a bit of her own perfectly toasted bread. Somehow, the sight of her in his own shirt had distracted Peeta a lot more than if she had been wandering around the apartment, naked. Not that he was any less distracting – wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing else.

They sat on the couch, the toasted bread and a platter of food between them, feeding each other, talking and laughing. Once again, Katniss was struck by how natural this felt with him. How utterly right. She still felt a little sore from their coupling, but it hadn't been nearly as awkward as she thought it would be. She wouldn't mind trying again, she realized.

"You're blushing," Peeta wiped a stray crumb from her lips. "What are you thinking about?"

"You," she said, smiling despite the heat on her face. "What we just did."

Peeta's eyes darkened. "Do you want to? Again?"

She felt her breath catch in her throat. She nodded.

Carefully placing the platter on the coffee table, he held out his hand to pull her up to her feet. "Wrap your legs around my waist when I lift you up, okay?"

Feeling a little unsteady, she gripped his hips with her thighs, grateful for the strong hands that were now cupping her bottom. She could feel him hardening again.

She put her lips to her ear. "I probably won't be very good at it, but can I…?" she hesitated. "Can I return the favour? You know…from earlier?"

She'd never felt Peeta move as fast as she did just then, almost leaping the short distance from the couch to the bedroom, before he kicked the door shut behind them.

**XXXXXX**

**One chapter left after this! I don't know whether to feel relieved or cry. I'm gonna miss these two. **

**शुभ ****विवाह****! = Shubh Vivah! = Happy Marriage!**

**कैतनिस ****और ****पीता ****= Katniss and Peeta (If you want to know how their names look like in Hindi)**


	19. Chapter 19

**_I would like to thank the lovely ombradellaluna on tumblr, who drew a beautiful picture of the rooftop picnic from Chapter 12 of this story. You can see part of the pic as my avatar on this site. To see the full pic, visit me on tumblr (tanbwrites) _**

**CHAPTER 19**

**The Wedding Games **

October marked the beginning of wedding season in India, the first of four months between the monsoons and the summer heat, when Mumbai was neither too wet nor too hot - "the perfect time for a wedding," Katniss had told Peeta. Getting married in October also meant that the groom's party would not be held up by any Canadian snowstorms, giving them ample opportunity to observe the festivities this time around.

Lights, which had been strung over the roof of Haydar Ali's bungalow, flashed on and off in time with the music on the night of the reception. A heavy garland made of marigolds, roses and jasmine was draped over the gates, swinging lightly in the breeze. "If I'd known we'd have to do this all over again, I'd just have left everything up the way it was," Haydar had muttered to Effie just a day earlier, when the workers were setting up the large hall with a stage for the bride and groom for the second time that year.

Effie said nothing. She sensed the sadness behind his gruff words, noticed the slightly nostalgic look in his eyes when he stopped in the garden and stared at a certain tree. Haydar loved both of Lajjo's daughters like his own, but Effie knew that Katniss was his favourite – the child who'd understood Haydar better than any other, the child who'd made up for the ones Effie could not give him. But Effie did not let him remain sad for long. The girls were both married now and, more importantly, they were _happy_. Effie had not seen Katniss smile so much in all the years she'd lived with the girl. And that, they both knew, was a bigger miracle than two marriages happening in a single year, like everyone else said.

"I was right," Shastri, the astrologer who'd written up Katniss's old horoscopes, had declared. "I was right that the younger one's marriage would clear the path for the older one. You can no longer defame me at the gymkhana, Haydar ji!"

"You can't," Katniss had pointed out reasonably when Haydar had grumbled about this to the rest of the family. "He did turn out to be right, you know. I did end up meeting Peeta at Prim's wedding."

"Don't you dare ask me to encourage that old goof," Haydar had replied. "He actually compared your sister to Drano."

Katniss had struggled between gagging and trying not to laugh. Old Shastri had been a good astrologer back in the day. Many of the predictions he'd made for Katniss at birth had turned out to be freakishly accurate. _Will live and study abroad. Late but happy marriage. Will marry after great obstacles, after younger sibling. _

Though, as he'd grown older, Shastri had seemed to lose his touch. On comparing Katniss's and Galjeet's horoscopes, he'd declared them both a match made in heaven.

The only reason there had even been a horoscope match was to satisfy Galjeet's mother. Hiroo Aunty had always been superstitious about those things. Haydar and Effie didn't believe in horoscopes at all, and neither did Lajjo.

So, this time around, it had been no surprise when everyone had unequivocally refused to let Old Shastri match up Katniss's and Peeta's horoscopes. Even Effie, who placed paramount importance on manners, didn't seem to care if they'd offended the astrologer.

For all Katniss knew, he would have accused some poor planet of misaligning and declared a mismatch. Not that it would have mattered. No mumbo-jumbo on a piece of paper would change how she felt about Peeta.

The only papers Katniss cared about now began with the words IMMIGRATION CANADA – the only ones, really, that could potentially keep her separated from her husband.

But Peeta didn't seem too worried. "Your police records are clean; you don't have any health problems; if you need to give an interview, you still know me better than anyone else. Our paperwork is completely in order, Katniss. Worst case scenario, I'll sell the bakery and move to Mumbai."

She was amazed at how confident he seemed. "You make things seem so simple."

"I know they aren't," he said. "I get worried, too, sometimes. But what I'm trying to say is that the main thing is for us to be together, right? We'll find a way to do that."

As always, he knew exactly what would soothe her frazzled nerves. Peeta was positive without being unrealistic, his optimism complementing her natural cynicism rather than clashing against it. Peeta liked giving people the benefit of the doubt, and though this puzzled Katniss at times, she was grateful for it all the same.

It was thanks to Peeta and his influence that Katniss had begun to give her mother a chance, talking to Lajjo a lot more, later even allowing her mother to sit in on her music practice sessions with Caesar and on the roof. More than the talks, Katniss knew it was the songs that had drawn her closer to Lajjo, songs that allowed them both to heal and remember a dark man with a wide smile and laughing grey eyes.

The only time Katniss had ever seen Peeta grow angry or cynical was when the topic of his own father came up. Though pleasant to him on the surface, Katniss had always sensed a little coolness in Peeta's interactions with Evan Mellark, a quiet grudge that sometimes erupted into major arguments that would result in them not speaking to each other for days at a time.

"He makes me so angry sometimes," Peeta had confessed to Katniss last month over the phone. "Trying to show concern about my well-being by treating me like a child. I'm turning twenty-six in a month; I've been managing the bakery since I got out of college. And now he tries lecturing me about stuff like butter and shortening!"

She had remained quiet for a few moments, letting him vent before gently giving him her opinion. "Peeta, don't take this the wrong way. But maybe…maybe it's time you forgave your father."

"You don't know what it's like, Kat," he'd replied bitterly, his voice rising. "How it feels to have him so _involved_ when he didn't even care about me as a kid. I can't just up and forget that."

"I am not telling you to forget. But this grudge isn't doing you or him any good. Forgive him – for yourself. I did that for Ma and I feel much better."

There was a long silence before he spoke again. "Doctor A says the same thing. I guess. I don't know. It might take me some time?"

"That's okay. Take your time. Just don't…don't write off your father, okay?"

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Though she couldn't see him right now, she could sense him rolling his eyes.

"Promise breakers are shoemakers," she sang out, the way her sister used to when they were children.

A smile broke over her face when she heard him snort. "Said the shoe thief, herself." She was glad to hear he sounded amused now, a lot more like himself. "You've really grown enlightened these days, _patni_ of mine. Have you given up singing for yoga?"

"I'm not _that_ enlightened. Neither do I want to attain _moksha_ and become one with God at this moment."

He'd laughed before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Oh please, you call _this_ yelling?" she'd teased. "Have you even heard my aunt and uncle?"

"I have. Once." She could hear the grin in his voice. "You're right. We are pretty tame compared to those two."

"It's okay if we argue, Peeta. I'd rather you yell at me and tell me what's on your mind than be passive aggressive about it."

On the day of the wedding (technically their second one), however, there was nothing passive above the way Peeta was behaving - beginning with the tight hug that lifted her off her feet when he reached Mumbai for the wedding, and later stealing kisses from her in the brief snatches of moments they were still alone, his mouth trailing a hot path down her neck.

When he'd cornered her at one point after the henna ceremony, Katniss had to force herself to leave her hands turned up to the air, unable to touch him back for fear of ruining the intricate patterns of mehendi that swirled from her fingertips to her wrists like lace gloves.

She had not known how difficult it would be, how much she would miss Peeta when she first left him after their wedding in Toronto, or how empty her bed would feel without him in it. When she'd returned to Mumbai, the first thing she did was make an appointment with a gynecologist at Breach Candy Hospital, to prescribe a birth control pill with the least side effects. Though neither Lajjo nor Haydar said anything about it, she sensed they both were aware that she and Peeta had already consummated their marriage.

Only Effie bua remained blissfully ignorant – or at least pretended she was. Katniss knew her aunt was far too sharp to ever been completely fooled about something like this; more than once she'd seen Effie look at her uncomfortably when she took a pill every morning at breakfast.

Now, after the wedding ceremony was over, she was only grateful that the pills had officially taken effect – especially since her husband seemed to have only one thing on his mind.

"Peeta." Katniss was trying hard not to get turned on by the thumb circling the inside of her wrist. "What are you trying to do?"

"Remind you of what I will do to you when I finally get you to myself," he whispered, leaning close so that only she could hear him. Katniss shivered when she felt his warm breath on her skin. She knew exactly what he could do with those hands and fingers. And that mouth. She squeezed her thighs together when his tongue moistened his lower lip. Thinking dirty thoughts about a man – even if he _was_ her husband now by Canadian and Indian law – wasn't exactly conducive to a crowded wedding hall, where every other eye was on her and Peeta.

Peeta was a lot more affectionate than the typical Indian groom – and Katniss knew that this would not escape everyone else's notice. They didn't engage in any form of PDA that would cause gossip or embarrass Katniss, but Peeta did little things – like stroking Katniss's cheek, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, clasping hold of her hand, tracing the delicate veins running under her skin.

Her husband certainly knew how to drive her crazy. Part of Katniss wanted to toss every rigid wedding custom aside and kiss the smirk off Peeta's mouth. It would certainly shut up some of Effie bua's tittering, gossipy friends who were still guessing how Katniss managed to "snag a Canadian PR" and divert their silly minds to other topics – namely whether or not it was good taste for a married woman to kiss her husband in public and whether or not it would be advisable to scold her for doing so. Katniss figured that they'd all probably have brain aneurysms from trying to work that out.

But then, her aunt and uncle would be embarrassed, as well. Modern as Effie bua pretended to be, she wasn't yet ready for such displays.

She turned to whisper in Peeta's ear. "Well, if it's any consolation, _pati-dev_, I can't wait to get you alone either." _And get out of this ten-ton sari._

Or at least it _felt_ like she was wearing ten tons – a bright red Banarasi silk sari with heavy gold zari and mirror-work on the borders, its pallu carefully draped over her head. An elaborate gold headpiece encrusted with pearls and gems split from the centre and curved around her hairline like a crown.

To compensate for her otherwise elaborate bridal outfit, Lajjo and Effie had rejected the hairstylist's suggestions for an updo and allowed Katniss to wear her hair in a simple braid, interwoven with little gold flowers.

Katniss also wore traditional red-and-white Punjabi bangles, along with delicate gold dome shaped ornaments called _kaleeras_ dangling from her wrists. The _kaleeras_, which were a lot lighter than the other jewellery had little gold leaves hanging from them. After Haydar Uncle had presented her with the bangles and kaleeras, Katniss had spent part of the morning shaking the gold ornaments over the heads of every unmarried woman in attendance. Women who got a leaf in their hair either blushed (Annie D'Costa), grimaced (Johanna Mascarenhas) or squealed with excitement (a cousin from Effie bua's side of the family) – all reactions to potentially being the next in line to get married.

Katniss, for her own part, had deliberately missed Prim's _kaleera_ ceremony in January by hiding in the bathroom. _Not that it had mattered_, she thought feeling a little amused now. Leaf or no leaf, she was sitting next to Peeta, surrounded by smoky scents of sandalwood and incense, and fragrant white _chameli_ flowers.

Besides, the look on Peeta's face when he first saw her step next to him on the wedding platform – a look that made her feel as if they were the only two people in the world – had made every discomfort worthwhile.

She suppressed a shiver when he pressed a soft kiss to her palm now, exactly over the spot where his name was hidden in the henna. He looked handsome in his cream-coloured sherwani – the stiff mandarin collar and trim of his kurta encrusted with pearls and gems to match the jewels Katniss wore, the thick, slightly shimmery fabric emphasizing the breadth of his chest and shoulders. The only thing Peeta had begged off wearing was the turban, which Katniss didn't really mind much – considering how much she loved seeing and running her fingers through his messy, wavy blond hair.

Apart from the turban, the only items missing from Peeta's attire were his shoes, whose disappearance had been discovered shortly after their wedding ceremony had ended.

Johanna was still in the room and so was Prim, who was sitting with Lajjo and a few of her friends. Annie, on the other hand, couldn't be seen anywhere – and neither could Finnick.

Katniss wondered if this was another one of her sister's matchmaking plans. While in Canada, Primada had confessed to Katniss that she'd been the one who'd told Peeta of the shoe-stealing tradition.

"He was asking me a lot of questions about you even before he came to India," Prim's eyes had glinted mischievously. "I knew I had to do something. And it worked, didn't it?"

Katniss had only blushed in response. She hadn't told Prim about the Facebook picture Peeta had seen or his old drawings of Katniss. It was a story both she and Peeta had decided to save for themselves, and later their children, if they had any.

"Beware, pati-dev," Katniss told her husband now. "The girls are going going to extort you for every paisa in your pocket."

He lightly nudged her nose with his own. "Yeah, well I'm not my brother. And I don't care if I'm barefoot."

Peeta had swapped his regular prosthetic for one that was shaped like a foot at the end and closer to the colour of his skin. Most people hadn't even noticed it – which was exactly what Peeta had wanted.

Katniss smiled at Peeta's father who was dancing with Johanna, his hands moving through a series of awkward bhangra poses. Peeta had told Katniss that he'd taken her advice and had a long talk with his father after their last argument. They'd both agreed that they still needed to work through some of their issues. Right now, though, she was relieved to see Peeta return his father's wave with a warm smile – the one that made his eyes crinkle at the corners, the one Katniss liked best.

**kpkpkp**

"Well, look at you, Katniss. It seems marriage suits you well." It was Glimmer Khanna's mother, dressed tip-top as always in a rich sari of green and blue, her hair up in an elegant twist. Though Katniss knew Glimmer, who had been one of Primada's college friends, she had never had a proper conversation with her rather intimidating mother.

Mrs. Khanna clasped Katniss's hands and pulled her in for a perfumed hug. "You always had a good head on your shoulders. I wish I could say the same for Priyanka."

Katniss was surprised. From what she had known, Mrs. Khanna had always doted on her daughter, indulging her every whim, including calling her Glimmer instead of Priyanka. This bit of criticism was unusual and a bit out of the blue. Maybe it had to do with Glimmer's current boyfriend, Ravi Mehra, who Mrs. Khanna had once called "a technology marvel from IIT" – until she found out about his penchant for gambling.

But Katniss did not ask her about this and Mrs. Khanna did not elaborate. "Thank you for your wishes," she told the woman instead. "I'm glad you could come."

"I wish you both the best," Mrs. Khanna told them, her socialite smile back in place.

Next in line was Shivaji Rao Shinde, Katniss's boss at the call centre, dressed in a freshly pressed, stark white safari suit, the bottom of his beard shaped like an upside-down minaret.

"Thank you for the invitation, Katri—sorry, Katniss."

Katniss was surprised to see that Shiva looked a little shy – a change from his usual sharp, blustering tone. He gave Katniss a neatly wrapped silver box with a little berry decoration on top. "I wish you both a very happy marriage."

"Thank you, Shiva Sir."

"You don't need to call me Sir outside the office. Just Shiva is fine." She was surprised to see him fumbling a bit, despite the gruff tone. And he held her hand a little too long after shaking it. Katniss snatched it free with an awkward smile.

"So," Peeta began, once Shiva left. "Were you going to tell me that your boss has a crush on you?"

**kpkpkp**

"What?" Peeta watched his wife jerk back with shock. "No he doesn't!"

Peeta suppressed a smile. It didn't really surprise him that Katniss's boss had a crush on her. Though Katniss always looked beautiful to Peeta, she looked especially breathtaking as a bride. The red sari she wore that evening only served to enhance her glowing, honey-coloured skin and silky black hair, while the tiny red and white dots over her eyebrows drew attention to her beautiful grey eyes.

Peeta shrugged. "If you say so. Though if looks could kill, I would be a dead man by now."

"He always shouts at me when we're working," she protested. "He said I…" Katniss's voice trailed off as if remembering something else.

"Didn't he give you the name Katrina?" Peeta prodded, unable to stop the smile from appearing on his face now. "You know the actress he has a cr—"

"Don't say it!" She covered her face with her hands.

"So you agree that I'm right."

"I could have lived the rest of her life without knowing this." She looked up at him again and grimaced. "It's going to be so awkward when I see him again at the office."

"Hmm, maybe I _should_ be worried," Peeta teased. "You could fall for that perfect beard and drive off with him into the sunset."

"Ugh, please. He's not even my type."

"What is your type?"

"I don't know. Blond, blue-eyed." She brushed a thumb over his clean-shaven cheek and grinned. "Has dimples that remind me of Shahrukh Khan."

"Oh really?" Peeta cleared his throat and mimicked the actor's funny little laugh. "Well, I love you too, K-k-k-katniss."

Katniss's mouth fell open, but he could tell she was fighting back a smile. "Oh my God. Seriously, Peeta? Did you have to mimic the psychopath he played in _Darr_?"

"Well I _am_ a little obsessed with you…though not to that degree," he amended with a grin.

She shook her head. "I can't believe you know about that movie though. How many Hindi movies have you been watching?"

"A few. I can't be left out of _all_ the jokes when I come here, can I?"

Her expression softened. "Well I can always be your translator."

His breath hitched. He couldn't wait for them to leave this place and get her alone. After three months of being apart, Peeta wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could making love to her.

He had missed Katniss desperately after she'd left – not only physically but also emotionally. Katniss wasn't a talker, but her quiet presence always soothed him, especially on the nights he dreamed of his childhood and mother. He had been hit by a particularly bad dream on the night after their civil ceremony in Toronto and had woken up to the sound of Katniss singing, her soft body and voice anchoring him once again to the present.

"I'm sorry," he'd told her then, feeling ashamed by how much he'd worried her. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," she'd replied. "I have nightmares about Papa sometimes, too. After all these years. And I love you, Peeta. All of you. Poor or rich. Sick or healthy. So don't you dare feel bad about it."

She continued demonstrating her love over the time they were apart – through phone calls and Skype conversations, through the little presents she sometimes sent him – such as a set of fine water colours or a book on Mughal painting techniques used by artists that worked on the Taj Mahal.

It had been Katniss's idea to have their Hindu wedding ceremony today, on October 12, which also happened to be Peeta's birthday. For his present, she gave him a ring – a simple platinum band with mother-of-pearl inlay in the centre.

"I wanted us to match," she told him shyly. "I hope you don't mind."

He'd kissed her so hard in response that, had it not been for the wall behind them, they both would have toppled to the floor.

Twelve more months remained before they would know the status of Katniss's sponsorship application, but for now Peeta decided not to worry about that. He was still going to be in India for a whole other week and take his wife on a honeymoon.

After some discussion they had both decided to go to Rajasthan – that north-western desert state of gypsy music, camels and ancient Rajput palaces. As a surprise, Peeta had booked them a room at the Taj Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur for a weekend. Expensive though the hotel was – he knew Katniss would have argued about the cost – Peeta wanted to give her something special. She deserved it. They both did.

"Attention please, attention please!" A voice announced. "The groom's shoes have been located!"

Peeta tore his gaze away from his wife to look at his sister-in-law, who was holding a mic and grinning mischievously. Prim was surrounded by a group of girls, including Rue, Johanna and Annie.

Prim held up a single gold mojri. "Of course, we have only one shoe here. The other half is with the groom's party."

The girls burst into giggles when Finnick suddenly entered the room, a little out of breath, holding Peeta's other shoe in his hand.s From the way the mojri was shaped, Peeta could tell that Finnick had the one that fit over his prosthetic.

"Sorry, man," he told Peeta. He gritted his teeth, his face a blotchy red. "I was outwitted by a shrewish female."

"Spoil sport!" Rue said cheerfully. "Not all of us are shrews, Finny bhai." Some of the younger girls tittered.

There was a smirk on Annie D'Costa's lips. "Well, you can't leave the groom with one shoe though. Or are you planning to make him hop across the room?"

Peeta grinned at Katniss and tapped his prosthetic leg. "Should I tell them it doesn't matter? I do have some hopping experience."

"And miss these two bickering like a couple from a Bollywood movie?" Katniss raised her eyebrows. "I don't think so."

He didn't know what had happened between Finnick and Annie – after getting her email from Katniss, Finnick had stopped talking about Annie altogether. Peeta had not prodded for information, chalking up the interaction to an online dating disappointment.

But now, from the way he and Annie D'Costa were glaring daggers at each other, Peeta guessed his friend still had feelings for the woman. The way Annie was glaring at him - and later at Johanna who made a crack about all the sexual tension between them - maybe she felt something for Finnick as well.

For all he knew, this was just some form of foreplay between them. Stranger things had happened when it came to matters of the heart. Maybe one day, they would have their own story to tell. After all, _bade bade deshon mein aisi choti-choti baatein hoti rehti hain_.

Peeta turned away from the pair and wrapped an arm around his wife. "Let the wedding games begin, Lucas's saali."

Her grey eyes sparkled in response. "And may the odds be ever in your favour, Prim's devar."

**Kpkpkp**

**_Five years, ten months, and fifteen weeks later…_**

Things didn't always work out the way you expected them to. But, when you had low expectations, the way Katniss Singhania Mellark did, they sometimes worked out for the better.

Her husband was currently in bed, fast asleep, pink lips parted, his too-long hair falling over his forehead. She knew he'd have to have a cut soon. She also knew that sometimes he let it grow a little longer than normal – mostly because he knew how much she liked running her fingers through the blond curls.

Right now, however, Katniss's mind was not on Peeta's hair, but his bare back. The smooth, pale skin that stretched over the long, hard muscles, flanking the thick column of a spine that she wanted to trace with her tongue.

Usually he was the one waking her up, with soft butterfly kisses on her mouth, or sometimes, with his face buried between her legs. The sex between them only grew better with time, but what amazed Katniss even more was how, even after all these years, she still managed to get butterflies when he smiled at her a certain way or the look of awe and admiration on his face whenever she wore a sari.

She pressed a light kiss at the nape of his neck, tasting the warm skin there. He moaned softly, but did not wake up. Though Peeta rose at the crack of dawn on most days, he slept deeply on his days off from the bakery.

Katniss, too, was glad for a chance to sleep in with him. A week ago, she would be getting ready for work at the parks department in the city, where she had been hired as an intern several months ago. Katniss's boss, Hedy Paylor – or Paylor as everyone called her – was a straight, no-nonsense woman who, unlike other employers, had paid attention to Katniss's resume at the job fair in her university and didn't outright reject her for lacking Canadian experience.

When Katniss told Paylor she was married and that her husband only had Mondays off, Paylor had made some adjustments to her schedule so that she could have Sundays and Mondays off, instead of Saturdays and Sundays.

As an intern, Katniss didn't often get to do field work, but lately Paylor had hinted at offering Katniss a full time job once her internship was complete.

Katniss slid a hand under the elastic band of Peeta's pajamas, and carefully cupped his round, firm bottom. As a teenager – even in her early twenties – Katniss would have never imagined being so bold with a man, even her husband. Now, though, everything had changed.

It was like he'd cast some sort of spell on her.

"Now this is a nice way to wake up," a sleepy voice murmured in her ear. His eyelashes fluttered against his cheek bones, but Peeta didn't open his eyes yet.

She gave him a gentle squeeze. "I aim to please."

Before she knew it, she was lying flat on her back, her legs parted with Peeta's erection pressed against her core.

"Not fair!" she protested weakly when he sucked a spot behind her ear. "I was supposed to wake _you_ up this time around."

"Well you did," he said, pinning her in place with his blue eyes. "I am now _fully_ awake."

Katniss sighed and went limp. Then, without warning, she maneuvered her leg around him and used all of her strength to flip him over.

"Shouldn't have taught me that wrestling move, Mellark." She knew that the move had only worked because Peeta had been surprised. His lips twitched and his blue eyes darkened with lust.

"So, will you let me have my way with you or not?" she asked him. His hand reached around to cup her bottom this time around and she knew he hadn't missed the way her hips automatically had rocked into his.

She took a deep breath and slowly pulled down his pajamas. He was completely naked underneath.

"You, too." His voice was more of a rasp now.

She stripped off the shirt she was wearing – one of his – and her sleeping shorts. Then she gripped him in her hands and began to pump. Peeta's clever fingers reached out to touch her as well, plucking her nipples, circling her clit.

"Wait…" she gasped. "I don't want to come just yet."

She rose on her knees and lined her centre with his before sliding down, sheathing him fully. It was one of their favourite positions – her on top. Peeta's nostrils were flaring, his eyes falling shut. When she rocked on top of him, he gritted his teeth slightly, a sure sign that he wanted to move. But he stayed still. He was letting Katniss have all the control this time.

"Peeta…"

She stopped moving and indicated that he sit up so that they were now face to face, still locked inside each other. His fingers dug into her hips supporting her as she moved. "Look at me…" she gasped. "Look at me when you come."

And he did. In all the times she had been with Peeta, this position always made her feel closest to him – delicious in its intimacy, agonizing in its slowness. They both came almost simultaneously, Peeta's fingers almost bruising her hips, Katniss digging her nails into his shoulders as she unsuccessfully tried to muffle a cry.

"I had a dream," she told him later, when they cuddled under the quilt. "We were in a meadow – you know like the one behind your Dad's cottage in Red Bay?"

"Yeah, I remember." He gently tucked a long hair behind her ear. "What did you see?"

"I saw – okay it wasn't _that_ kind of dream," she said when he waggled his eyebrows at her. She sighed. "We were there. You and I. And there were two others."

"Others?"

"Children. A boy and a girl."

_Our children. _

Peeta grew silent. A small smile was playing on his lips.

They'd talked about having children in the past, mostly about how they needed to wait until Katniss's education completed her education at first and then got s stable job. But Katniss knew that she was also nervous about having kids. Old fears about inheriting her mother's genes and her depression ran rampant through her mind, whenever this discussion came up.

"What if I'm a bad mother?" she had asked Peeta, over and over again.

"You won't," he'd replied firmly, every single time. "You are the strongest woman I know. You'll take care of them just as you took care of Prim, as you take care of me now."

As if sensing her train of thought, Peeta smiled reassuringly now and lightly flicked her nose with a finger. "Someday," he said. "When you're ready. When it feels right. We have each other till then. And I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying having you to myself right now."

She smiled back, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. That night, when she fell asleep in Peeta's arms, she dreamed of them again.

A girl with black hair and blue eyes. A blond, grey-eyed boy toddling towards her on his chubby legs. In the background, Katniss could hear a man's familiar laughter, and a woman singing a song about a willow tree.

** XXXXX**

**THE END**

**Do tell me how you liked this story! :) **

**English translations for Hindi words/phrases**

**_Moksha _= Liberation (the final stage of yoga where the soul becomes one with God)**

**_Patni = _****Wife**

**_Pati-dev_**** = Husband**

**_Bade bade deshon mein aisi choti-choti baatein hoti rehti hain_**** = Little things like this happen in big countries all the time. **

**This dialogue, as Bollywood fans will know, is from the movie DDLJ. On a recent visit to India, President Obama said part of the dialogue at the Delhi Townhall, which I found pretty cool :) **

** Little note of interest:**

**Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, is known across the globe for his romantic movies. Before DDLJ launched him into said superstardom, he played various other characters, getting special recognition for his negative role in the movie ****_Darr_****, where he played an obsessed man who stalked a girl (Juhi Chawla) and tried to kill her fiancé (Sunny Deol). **

**The character spoke with a stammer whenever he called the girl ("I love you, K-k-k-kiran.") launching the careers of dozens of comedians and SRK lookalikes. **

**Peeta mimics Shahrukh in this chapter to tease his wife, replacing Kiran with Katniss. **


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